Tobacco (nicotine)

The number of people using tobacco, mostly as cigarettes, has reduced over the last few decades. However, smoking still causes more harm and illness than almost every other drug in Victoria.

Tobacco comes from leaves of the tobacco plant and is most used mostly in cigarettes. Nicotine is tobacco’s active ingredient.

Tobacco can be bought and used legally by people over 18. Tobacco comes as cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and wet and dry snuff. It’s usually smoked (cigarette or pipe), but sometimes chewed or sniffed.

The effects of tobacco include: a feeling of relaxation, it can give you reduced appetite, increased alertness, mild euphoria, dizziness, abdominal cramps, and even vomiting, especially if you are not used to smoking. The effects are felt almost immediately and can last between 15 and 60 minutes when smoked.

An overdose of nicotine can happen - using nicotine patches with gum or cigarettes might result in feeling confused, shallow breathing or even seizures. Call an ambulance if any of these symptoms occur.

Tobacco can cause serious long-term health consequences such as emphysema, heart attack, stroke and lung cancer.

If you use tobacco then you may want to try to:

• Reduce the number of cigarettes smoked daily.

• Use patches or gum to reduce smoking’s health risks (talk to a pharmacist or doctor)

• Smoke in open spaces to reduce second-hand smoke

• Contact Quit Victoria if you are thinking of quitting

See the Australian Drug Foundation for more drug facts