Human beings have always found sources to relax themselves from stress or any form of pain they experience (both physical and emotional). While some people consult physicians for the aforementioned problems, a major proportion of people use drugs that are common in our society and its use is abhorred BUT not as much as the use of heroin or cocaine, which may be due to the large availability of such drugs. It is not the drug that results in a person’s health to deteriorate, but the sources used by people. Examples of such drugs are nicotine and caffeine.

Caffeine is widely used by people in the form of tea or coffee. Most of us drink coffee and tea twice nearly every day. What’s amusing is that it is second nature for people to forget the fact that caffeine is an addictive drug. In some households even children are “encouraged” to drink tea at least once a day. Similarly, some sources of nicotine are cigarettes and vapes but there are other sources as well. It should be noted that our society mainly abhors smoking cigarettes, not the use of nicotine and this is mainly due to the problems that the carcinogens present in cigarettes cause, such as lung cancer. This article focuses on what sources of nicotine were used by people in the past and how those sources evolved to result in vapes being introduced in society.

Tobacco is native to the Americas. As early as 5000 B.C. people in the Americas used tobacco and other hallucinogenic plants in shamanistic rituals. These practices originated in the Peruvian and the Ecuadorian Andes. Many ancient civilizations, including the Babylonians, Indians and Chinese burned incense as part of religious rituals. Cannabis was common in Eurasia before tobacco arrived. However, direct smoking of cannabis became more prevalent after the advent of tobacco in the 16th Century.

Tobacco pipes were the first type of smoking source to be used by people. These were of two types. One type was the typical tobacco pipe we see in vintage movies or series. These are small pipes with a hollow opening that is used for adding tobacco leaves and are lit with a match. The smoke is inhaled through the thin, open end of the pipe. The other type is larger than and not as portable as the former type. These pipes are called Hookahs and are common in the Arabian countries and some countries of the Subcontinent. Archeological investigation has linked the first smoking pipe, made of copper, to Egypt around 2000 B.C. The pipes were found inside tombs, next to mummies, though it’s not clear if the pipes were used for religious ceremonies or were recreational. Tobacco pipes were common even in the early 20th Century and hookahs are still used today in the Subcontinent and Arabian countries although its use is less as compared to the past.

In the 19th Century, it was quite common to chew tobacco. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was founded in 1875 and exclusively produced chewing tobacco. It is also during those days that cigarettes were slowly becoming common among people. Cigarettes truly came into popularity after the invention of the cigarette making machine by James Bonsack in 1881. It is quite surprising that cigarettes are the most common way of consuming nicotine these days. Cigarettes contain over 600 ingredients but the most common other than nicotine are: tar, formaldehyde, benzene, arsenic, acrolein etc. Compared to other sources of nicotine, cigarettes are the most common, cheap and easily available source of obtaining nicotine. Its use started to decrease since the late 20th Century due to increased health awareness among people.

The decreased use of cigarettes didn’t stop nicotine from being consumed, however. Alternate sources started to emerge. These sources were less harmful than cigarettes as they didn’t have carcinogens. The two most common sources are nicotine pouches and vapes. Both of these are commonly used to quit smoking. Nicotine pouches, also known as modern oral nicotine products, became known before vapes. The first nicotine pouch was registered in 2008, though its development began in 2000. Pouches don’t involve combustion and are relatively safer than cigarettes.

Vapes, also known as e-cigarettes, first entered the market in 2007. They became common among the youth since 2019. The design of these is such that it resembles regular cigarettes, cigars, pipes, pens and even USB flash drives. They may be disposable or may contain rechargeable batteries (they can be refilled too). A typical vape provides up to 1000 puffs and is much more environmentally friendly than other smoking modes. The biggest advantage of vapes is that they don’t cause lung cancer or cardiac problems as they don’t contain carcinogens (excessive use can cause other problems such as erectile dysfunction). They are usually flavored and the amount of nicotine a person wants can be controlled. Even refills containing 0mg nicotine exist. The only slight disadvantage of vapes is that they are relatively expensive compared to other sources of nicotine. Vapes are quite common between young adults and teenagers these days.

All in all, consumption of nicotine has always been a constant factor among humans, whether it be ancient times or today’s generation. From using tobacco seeds to nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes, humanity has always found a way to fulfill its desire and crave for nicotine and not to mention, other addictive drugs as well.