nicotine content in cigarettes

[THE NAMELESS]

so i have been trying to figure out what the nicotine content in cigarettes is, compared to the nicotine content in shisha. anyone know?

[dikydave]

scroll down to almost the bottom of the page, on the left u will see a search box. enjoy.

[yashman19]

I'll just save you even more time. People find all sorts of info on
nicotine content in hookah compared to ciggs. And people get the oddest
numbers: 100 ciggs in 1 bowl of hookah tobacco, 25 ciggs -1 bowl,
couple bowls of hookah tobacco for 1 cigg. Pretty much, there is no
definate scientific answer, yet...

So just remember, if you have a weak will and self constraint and you
are worried of developing a dependency, hookah might not be for you.

I smoke multiple times per day, 7 days a week and even I would think at
some point I'd become heavily dependent on hookah. But I go a week -
two weeks at a time not smoking due to school work, family vacations
where I don't have access to a hookah, and yet I never get those
withdrawels that people have from being cigg smokers.

A lot depends on the person. So if you think you could practice
moderation, then you shouldn't worry about the nicotine as much.

[MrGuy]

It depends on the shisha and the tobacco used. if its unwashed tobacco, it wil have about 0.5% nicotine, if it's washed, then it normally has about 0.05% i think. Dunno about ciggs tho....they're dirty

[Buford]

Total content doesn't matter as much as how much you get in your system from smoking it. I've never gotten a buzz from cigarettes (and I hate them otherwise), but I've gotten a buzz from shisha. It's actually on par or a little lesser than the buzz you can get from a pinch of snuff or wad of chaw, and moist snuff is loaded with nicotine. However, the delivery method is different, so the amount absorbed may be different.

[MrGuy]

Ye i was going to say something about that.
compare what remains of a smoked cigarette with what remains from a smoked head of shisha, I think you probably take in less stuff with shisha than cigs but shisha smoke is condensed so it looks thicker....just a theory

[Sonthert]

Cigarettes contain from approximately .7-1mg of nicotine. Sheesha contains, approximately, .05% nicotine...on 20g, thats 10mg. On a full nicotine tobacco, thats 100mg.

[MrGuy]

but as i pointed out, how much of that do you actually take in? i mean compared to cigs, a used shisha bowl has a hell of a lot of "waste" left.

[NorthEastSmoker]

Plus the fact that if you smoke a bowl with other people all of the nicotine is not taken in by one person..

[Lord Dorian]

Unfortunately, almost all studies that I have read have concluded that hookah smoking is more danerous than cigarette smoking. This includes several foriegn studies as well as studies in the reputable american journals Pediatrics and a recent issue of the Journal of Periodontology. As Buford eluded to, the most important factor is not how much nicotine is in the product but how much ends up in the bloodstream, and depending on whose estimate you use nicotine levels are 70%-180% higher after a hookah bowl than a cigarette. Almost more troubling, the levels of blood suffocation (the presence of CO2) are 2 to 3 times higher after a hookah bowl versus a cigarette, and hookah smoke also contians much higher levels of heavy metals, which can lead to nerouloigcal problems.

[MrGuy]

Well let's look at it this way - has anyone who smoked hookah for a long time felt any detremental effect that you suspect is a result of hookah smoking?
 
most people claim that unlike cigarettes, after a few months/years of smoking they still feel as fit as before they started. sure they may drop dead the next day form some hookah related problem, but at least it's quick and doesn't drag on your death like ciggs do (and ciggs smell)

[Sonthert]

1. Nicotine levels are not terribly important...that it is, my levels are higher...so what? What is wrong with nicotine?2. The same logic applies...if statistics help your case, use them, if they hurt it, ignore them. The new surgeon general's report is short on statistical information on secondhand smoke causing cancer...because the statistics show that the increase of second hand smokers over non-smokers is not statistically significant.3. What is the methodology...how was the hookah utilized for the testing? For heavy metal release, they must have been loaded with charcoal and burning the tobacco...I don't smoke that way...most people don't. 4. Of course the studies are going to be alarmist, whether or not it poses a catastrophic health risk or merely a serious health risk. Nobody gets published anymore from the study "Fast food isn't bad for you." Nobody publishes, the news media ignores it and it doesn't pay well. McBurger Bell might front the money, but the study will largely be ignored, the news media far prefers to scare rather than promote scientific investigation (like the global warming thing). Smoking hookah is bad for you, no doubt about it, but I want solid, irefutable evidence, not inference-based finger pointing.How much do you take in, Mr. Guy? I can't say that...do you put the hose down alot or is always in your mouth? I don;t think anybody can say with great clarity.

[MrGuy]

If we're going based on "studies" i actualy read a report (100% true story here people) that sleeping with the light on increases risks of cancer. so come on, if you cant sleep with you're light on without risks of cancer then you can't do anything!
 
meh, i'd say average, it depends what the scenario is. at a small gathering, 2 or 3 of us. it spends quite a lot of time in my mouth. at a big one (6+) its hardly ever in there.
 
I can't remember who it is, but someone on this forum smoked ciggs for a while, and started feeling it, so they stopped, and a few years later when the smoking damage felt almost "repaired" started smoking shisha and after a few months of smoking shisha, they said that they still feel fit as a fiddle.

[Sonthert]

Yeah, and that old one from the early 80s...plants whom people talk to grow better than plants that aren't spoken to. Yeah, plants existed millions of years...just growing real poorly until people came along, conveniently devloping spoken language to help the plants grow better.There couldn;t be an additional variable, could there???

[MrGuy]

i don't know. well i'm a newbie shisha smoker, other than shisha, i smoke nothing, and i never have (no ciggs or anything else, they smell) so in a few years time, i'll tell you how healthy i feel. i never work out or anything like that (i'm still at the age where my metabolism works with rather than against my figure:D.)
 
so yeah, a few years from now, ill post how my resperitory systems are feeling and if i feel shisha has taken it toll.

[Sonthert]

I smoked 10 years...alot! I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. I come from healthy people though and I drink alot of vitamin C enriched energy drinks. 

[MrGuy]

Q.E.D hookah does no harm ever! now be still....and know that tangiers is god.

[Sonthert]

Shhh...the heathens shall not cast ye truths hence. 

[Ain Soph Aur]

Isnt the aditives in tobacco more harmful then the actual amount of nicotine itself?


 
One also has to consider that heat destroys most of the nicotine in tobacco. With shisha burning at a lower temp less nicotine is destroyed before making it into the bloodstream.
 
The currently available literature indicates that nicotine, on its own, does not promote the development of cancer in healthy tissue and has no mutagenic properties.
 
So instead of worrying about nicotine I would be much more concerned in the other additives involved in the manufacturing of shisha/cigg tobacco.

[Scheetz]

Isnt the purpose of nicotine just to cause the addiction and give you the buzz?

thats what I always assumed and thats what I was told kept people addicted to cigs.

correct me if im wrong, tangiers probably knows the answer.

[dikydave]

[quote name='Scheetz']Isnt the purpose of nicotine just to cause the addiction and give you the buzz?

thats what I always assumed and thats what I was told kept people addicted to cigs.

correct me if im wrong, tangiers probably knows the answer.[/quote]ya, thats pretty much it.  the Cancer Man will probably say thats made up too.

[Sonthert]

Additives more dangerous than the nicotine? Well, nicotine is a very potent nerve poison, but if you survive it for the first couple of hours, the long term effects don;t seem that deleterious. The rest of the additives in cigarettes are a question mark. I anecdotally heard about a Surgeon General's report from 1968 that showed cigarette smokers have immensely high cancer rates compared to non-smokers and still higher cancer rates than cigar smokers. If that is true, the amount of the tobacco is less important than whats in it. I can;t say for sure, I'm no doctor.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NicotineI don't think the heat is high enough to destroy the nicotine. It is enough to vaporize it, which makes smoking a hookah possible.Your other two points I concur with.Nicotine is a natural constiuent  of the Solananceous Family plants, tobacco having the highest nicotine level in the family. Have you ever heard that tomato leaves are poisonous? Its because of the nicotine. I believe the addiction rate for cigar and pipe smokers is lower than for cigarette smokers, but cigar smokers consume more tobacco in a day...which leads to the question, how? Can't say...but your line of reasoning would fit with the observed data, that is that the additives are more addictive than the nicotine.

[MrGuy]

tomatoes used to be illegal to eat in america didnt they? not sure if they were illegal, but people didn't eat them because they thouhgt they were poisonous until some guy stood on the middle of a big crowd of people and ate a bag of them.
 
back on topic,  it would be useful to find out how much nicotine is left in a used head of shisha, that way we could figure out how much is taken in.

[dikydave]

whoa whoa hold up, are u saying i can smoke tomato plant leaves?  thats a 2fer if i can get a delicious food and an after dinner smoke.

[MrGuy]

just because it's got nicotine in it, doesn't mean it's smokable...but i'm sure it would be fun to watch someone try (until they fall on the floor and start twitching madly)
 
i don't know. just doing a little google though, i found:
 
"WHY DON'T WE EAT TOBACCO?
The leaves of all nightshades contain high levels of nicotine. One could, at a pinch, smoke potato or tomato leaves. A potent insecticide can be made with tomato leaves. The levels of nicotine in the leaves of nightshade plants are much higher than in nightshade fruits or tubers. 8-10 cigarettes, if eaten, would be enough to kill a person. First time smokers experience dreadful nausea but gradually develop a resistance to the effects of nicotine and this is how addiction develops – more and more is needed to satisfy the craving. " - [url="http://www.craigsams.com/pages/tobac.html"]http://www.craigsams.com/pages/tobac.html[/url]