Nicotine as a useful stimulant • Hacker News Board

Re: Nicotine as a useful stimulant

#131

Post by jtheory » Sat, Sep 28, 2013, 9:36 PM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #31

cnp wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In an attempt to quit smoking I just discovered the vaporization method and WOW -- I'm so impressed. Its actually enjoyable in the way that smoking is enjoyable, and the stimulant kick is very real.

vaporized liquid nicotine ? Where do you get it ? in Europe e-cigarettes are under scrutiny because the sold product is not guaranteed to be clean of toxic substances, otherwise it would be pretty great I guess.

They're easy to find, though -- I'm not a smoker or, uh, e-smoker, but I'm in rural central France, and there's an entire shop that seems to be dedicated to e-cigarettes in the closest major town (population 7K or so).

The name "vaping" is something of a shame, though, for something that's a much less harmful alternative for smokers -- it sounds to me like a combination of "vapid" and "gaping".

Re: Nicotine as a useful stimulant

#132

Post by namlem » Sat, Sep 28, 2013, 11:49 PM UTC

I'm a non-smoker who bought an e-cigarette to try to use it as a stimulant. It's pretty meh. The buzz doesn't later very long, significantly shorter than caffeine, which itself is pretty lame. If you want to really boost performance amphetamines are your best bet by a lot.

Re: Nicotine as a useful stimulant

#133

Post by namlem » Sat, Sep 28, 2013, 11:49 PM UTC

I'm a non-smoker who bought an e-cigarette to try to use it as a stimulant. It's pretty meh. The buzz doesn't later very long, significantly shorter than caffeine, which itself is pretty lame. If you want to really boost performance amphetamines are your best bet by a lot.

Re: Nicotine as a useful stimulant

#134

Post by namlem » Sat, Sep 28, 2013, 11:50 PM UTC

I'm a non-smoker who bought an e-cigarette to try to use it as a stimulant. It's pretty meh. The buzz doesn't later very long, significantly shorter than caffeine, which itself is pretty lame. If you want to really boost performance amphetamines are your best bet by a lot.

Re: Nicotine as a useful stimulant

#135

Post by Zuider » Sun, Sep 29, 2013, 3:43 PM UTC

salemh wrote: post #59

michaelwww wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I overdosed myself severely when I first tried an e-cigarette. There's more nicotine per puff than a cigarette, at least in the brand I tried.

Sometimes I find new "ecig" smokers tend to puff on them (myself included initially) much longer then a regular cigarette. Such as, vaping all day or for hours (even if it is only once every 5-10 minutes over that time period). Nicotine levels also vary and can be customized.

Chain-vaping is a potential problem. Maybe the e-cigs should have a signal to stop after a minute or so.

Re: Nicotine as a useful stimulant

#136

Post by Zuider » Sun, Sep 29, 2013, 3:50 PM UTC

hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #96

whalesalad wrote: post #2

I can't imagine life without stimulants. I hope to move off into the woods one day and live a completely natural lifestyle for a while. Reset myself. No caffeine, no nicotine, no amphetamines. Just me, a dog, and a nice ranch property in the middle of nowhere. Meanwhile, nicotine is a staple of my day-to-day. I quit smoking a long time ago, now I stick to Swedish snus and vaping. For a period I was chewing gum too. D…

> I can't imagine life without stimulants. I hope to move off into the woods one day and live a completely natural lifestyle for a while. Funny way to put it, because human beings have been smoking something for as long as they've walked on earth, as evidenced by older cultures, so it's arguable what would be "natural".

Most of the world's population spends their entire waking day stoned on something more powerful than nicotine, whether it is coca leaves, betel nut, khat, or some other indigenous herb. It just seems a given that wherever you find people, you will find drugs.

Re: Nicotine as a useful stimulant

#137

Post by hcarvalhoalves » Mon, Sep 30, 2013, 3:15 AM UTC

Zuider wrote: post #136

hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can't imagine life without stimulants. I hope to move off into the woods one day and live a completely natural lifestyle for a while. Funny way to put it, because human beings have been smoking something for as long as they've walked on earth, as evidenced by older cultures, so it's arguable what would be "natural".

Most of the world's population spends their entire waking day stoned on something more powerful than nicotine, whether it is coca leaves, betel nut, khat, or some other indigenous herb. It just seems a given that wherever you find people, you will find drugs.

Coca leaves dont get you "stoned" though, only the refined stuff. Neither do I agree that most populations spend their days "stoned". Indigenous tribes that drink ayahusca for instance only use in rituals. The natives from north america didnt smoked tobacco all day either.

Its obvious they had functional societies, which isnt possible when people spend all day using psycoactives, like Europe on heroin or Asia on opium days.

Re: Nicotine as a useful stimulant

#138

Post by salemh » Fri, Oct 04, 2013, 10:34 PM UTC

Zuider wrote: post #135

salemh wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes I find new "ecig" smokers tend to puff on them (myself included initially) much longer then a regular cigarette. Such as, vaping all day or for hours (even if it is only once every 5-10 minutes over that time period). Nicotine levels also vary and can be customized.

Chain-vaping is a potential problem. Maybe the e-cigs should have a signal to stop after a minute or so.

The carb (depending on your model) tends to get very hot when chain-vaping, so its a slight fix on its own. People just need to be aware of what they are doing, which is on the individual. I do not forses "good" education coming from PSA's or governments on eCigs, much like hookah [1].

[1] We have lovely billboards in SLC on 1 hour of hookah == 100 cigarettes, which is based on a poorly designed study by the CDC which measured volume of vapor in hookah as a comparative to "what if it was the same volume of cigarette smoke", as a paraphrase.

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/tobac...

If I get a response, I'll have more time later to pick this apart.

Note many times the studies are based around "traditional" such as Tombak tobacco, which is placing the coals directly on the Shisha (tobacco), versus more standard practice (especially in US / hookah bars (across to Vietnam, etc.)) of tinfoil or steal as a heat diffuser.