Nicotine

The above molecule is the structure and composition of nicotine.  It is supposedly the root cause of why I smoke a pipe.  The idea is that I ingest nicotine and it will act upon receptors on acetylcholine releasing neurons.  Nicotine is a parasympathomimetic alkaloid and can exert stimulating or sedative effects depending upon usage.   To the best of my understanding of myself, I primarily indulge in tobacco for its slight sedative effects.  Yet, the odd thing about my pipe smoking, is that I admit that I greatly enjoy the activity, and greatly enjoy the process, but I have experimented over the last few weeks with other nicotine containing products (cigars, chewing tobacco, cigarettes, and even an e-cigarette).  While I occasionally enjoy a cigar under normal circumstances, I was experimenting with the various other tobacco type items simply to see if they could be a substitute for me in a new effort to stop, or restrict my pipe tobacco consumption.  The odd thing is that NONE of the other tobacco type items were able to substitute for my pipes and pipe tobacco.  To me, that suggests that there is something beyond the simple biochemistry of nicotine at work in my long standing affair with pipes and pipe tobaccos.  If pipes and pipe tobaccos were not available to me, I do not think I would regularly and consistently indulge in any other form of tobacco.  None (not cigars, not chewing tobacco, not cigarettes, not e-cigarettes) were something that held the sort of appeal to me that my pipes and pipe tobacco have.

I think exploring this notion further may help me to eventually uncover a mechanism by which I will be successful in quitting smoking my pipes and pipe tobaccos, or in having a restricted structure of very occasional use of pipes and pipe tobaccos.  To me, I think it is important to note that it really is not all about nicotine.  That is somewhat flying in the face of common theory on the matter of using tobacco, but it truly feels as if it is explaining something of value to me that I may be able to use in my efforts.

You may find it interesting to note that I threw away the chewing tobacco, the cigarettes, and the e-cigarette, because none of them really had any appeal for me.  I kept the two cigars I had left, but put them away, and have no real interest in them at this time.

PipeTobacco