Does nicotine cause lung cancer? Although it is true that cigarettes cause lung cancer, people often mistakenly extend that fact to nicotine. Let's uncover the truth once and for all.

When you think of smoking, you think of lung cancer. In fact, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of cancer above all others. Lung cancer alone kills more people every year than all other types of cancer combined. Cigarettes undeniably play a big part in it. But what makes cigarettes so deadly? Could it be the nicotine?

Nicotine is an active ingredient in tobacco products, and it has psychoactive properties on the user. In low doses, it relaxes the person. In higher doses, it activates the nervous system, speeds up the heart rate, and energizes the person. Because nicotine alters the chemistry in your brain, it is considered as an addictive drug.

But the fact that nicotine is addictive doesn't make it carcinogenic (cancer causing). To date, no sound scientific research has been able to find that nicotine causes lung cancer or any other cancer. Furthermore, research has shown that nicotine by itself is not all that addictive. When people switch to nicotine gum and patches that only deliver nicotine, they find that nicotine dependency is far easier to wane than the cigarettes themselves.

So what in cigarettes actually causes lung cancer? It is simply… the smoke. When tobacco leaves burn, they generate carbon monoxide, tar, free radicals, and other chemicals. When inhaled, these chemicals irritate your lung tissue and cause cell damage. Not only does this make the tissue more susceptible to infections, the damaged cells may develop into cancerous tumors.

So does nicotine cause lung cancer? No. The fact that nicotine gum and patches exist as OTC supplements is solid evidence. If nicotine was carcinogenic, the FDA would simply pull it off the shelves. After all, why would you quit smoking with the substance that causes problems in the first place? Contrary to the popular belief, it is actually the rest of the chemicals in smoke that cause cancer. Interestingly, the big and rich tobacco companies still manage to allow consumers play Russian roulette with their lives, one pack at a time.