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Nicotine is the chemical in tobacco that keeps you smoking. It reaches the brain within seconds of taking a puff. In the brain, nicotine increases the release of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, which help regulate mood and behavior.
E-cigarettes heat it (extracted from tobacco), flavorings and other chemicals to create an aerosol that you inhale. Regular tobacco cigarettes contain 7,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic. E-cigarettes gives you options: use e-liquids with or without tobacco and choose different sweet flavours you like.
Nicotine comes from the Nicotiana species, which are tobacco plants and part of the nightshade family. Tobacco plants originated in South America before spreading to North America, Africa, and Australia.
Native people of these areas originally used the leaves of tobacco plants to chew, smoke, or use in religious rituals. European colonists exported tobacco crops for profit and changed the focus of tobacco to recreational use.
The tobacco industry has a substantial historyTrusted Source of using racial profiling, demographics of an area, and cultural factors to target particular communities and promote tobacco use.
Tobacco companies have also disproportionately marketed menthol products to Black people and low-income communities. Tobacco companies add menthol to cigarettes to make them more palatable.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source, among people who smoke cigarettes, non-Hispanic Black or African American people are more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes compared to other races or ethnicities.
Menthol may increaseTrusted Source the addictive effects that nicotine has on the brain. People who smoke menthol cigarettes are more likely to continue using tobacco products, which increases the risk of them developing conditions relating to tobacco use.