Nicotine and other Drugs
What is Nicotine? They have naturally produced alkaloids in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and Dubois, hopwoodii) and are widely used recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As a pharmaceutical drug, it is used for smoking cessation to relieve withdrawal symptoms. Nicotine acts as a receptor agonist at most nicotinic acetylcholine receptors except at two nicotinic receptor subunits where it acts as a receptor antagonist. It constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of the dry weight of tobacco. It functions as an anti-herbivore chemical; consequently, nicotine was widely used as an insecticide in the past, and neonicotinoids, such as…