Nicotine: Pharmacology, Toxicity and Therapeutic use

Nicotine is naturally found in the plants belonging to the Solanaceae family. Concentrations high enough to have a pharmacological effect are seen only in the tobacco subfamily, approximately 2% of dry weight and in Duboisia Hopwoodii that has been used by Australian aborigines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duboisia_hopwoodii). It is also present in the range of 2–7 microgram per kg of various edible plants. Nicotine in the vehicle of tobacco has been used by humans for thousands of years. (Wilbert, 1993). It has been used in many forms but often and more recently, at least in the Western world, almost only in smoked forms. Nicotine consumed with tobacco is probably the second most used drug in the world after caffeine from coffee and tea. Tobacco/nicotine is consumed regularly across all countries, cultures and almost all religions. Thirtyone percent of men and 6% of women are tobacco users globally 2012 (Ng et al., 2014). Particularly in the western part of the world, smokers have been under great pressure to stop for the last 40 years or so. The prevalence has been halved in many countries but still almost 20% of the adult population is using tobacco in the English speaking world. In the EU 32% of men and 24% of women were smokers 2012 (EU Barometer).