Cigarette smoking in the United States plummeted For decades, Reaching lowest price in 80 years In 2024.
But nicotine, the highly addictive stimulant found in cigarettes, has turned into a strange new trend, with wellness influencers promoting it as a way to prepare for a hard workout or boost productivity at work. statistics news report.
Even shadow defense contractor Palantir offers nicotine pouches to its employees in its vending machines. Startups like Lucy Nicotine and Sesh are marketing it to users as a way to stay alert and stay awake longer. That’s despite the stimulant’s known health risks, from its extremely addictive nature to elevated blood pressure, which can put users at risk for heart attacks and strokes. Many of these products are not sold or approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
as the experts said statusthe recreational use of nicotine pouches and gum originally designed to help people quit smoking can lead to young people becoming addicted in the first place, and the health risks far outweigh the benefits.
Additionally, nicotine’s ability to increase productivity may be greatly exaggerated. Paul Newhouse, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University, said nicotine is “very unlikely to help cognitive function in people who are functioning at a normal capacity.” status.
That doesn’t stop brands from promoting nicotine products on social media as boosting productivity and performance. This is especially trending among technology employees. Zyn Oral Nicotine Pouch Can It’s becoming a common sight on the desks of startup employees. In the case of Palantir, flavor packs of oral nicotine pouches were provided free of charge to employees and guests age 21 and older.
“They were so productive that I thought there might be something here,” says Alex Cohen, CEO of an AI-powered healthcare company. said to wall street journal In December, he mentioned being a software engineer at his company. “Then I accidentally became addicted.”
In fact, interest in nicotine in Silicon Valley may soon turn into a wave of people who have never smoked becoming addicted to nicotine.
“Individuals often switch nicotine products,” said Michael Fiore, co-founder of the University of Wisconsin Tobacco Research and Intervention Center. WSJ. “Most of these tech workers are not users, so I think they could be creating an addiction in people who aren’t currently using technology.”
The long-term health effects of smoking are well known, but newer styles of nicotine products can be harmful for more than high blood pressure. Specifically regarding oral nicotine pouches, the health effects include: Still under active investigationwhich means there’s still a lot we don’t know.
Beyond the anecdotal effects of mental alertness and improved concentration, the jury is still out on whether nicotine can actually help in these ways, or whether the brain simply relies on a constant infusion of dopamine.
“To be clear, we cannot make productivity claims,” said Maxwell Cunningham, founder of nicotine startup Seshu. WSJ. “But I think it will be very interesting to see what kinds of people and industries are using our products.”
Learn more about nicotine: Something terrible will happen if you stop taking Zyn Cold Turkey
