# nicotine rush **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-rush/169298 "2003-04-17T13:54:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/87869e/32.png) [@wolfju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfju)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-rush/169298/1 "2003-04-17T13:54:13Z")
If one inhales cigarette smoke after a period of abstinence, what causes the almost immediate “rush” of dizzyness etc? ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-rush/169298/2 "2003-04-17T14:57:30Z")
Anoxia. Carbon Monoxide displaces the Oxygen in your blood. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-rush/169298/3 "2003-04-17T15:07:41Z")
Cite? One does not habituate to carbon monoxide; it’s a poison, period. Nicotine is a drug, and one habituates to it; after abstaining, one is subject to the same effects as when one first started smoking. I have smoked a few cigarettes, and I remember the dizzying head rush from the nicotine – carbon monoxide does NOT have the same effect. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-rush/169298/4 "2003-04-17T17:30:17Z")
I smoke a pipe and do not inhale the smoke, but I get a definite intoxicant effect. In ADDITION, the intoxication strength varies greatly depending upon which high-falutin’ blend I smoke. Is it being claimed that some tobacco blends give off significantly more or less CO than do others? ---
**Author:** ![Wyld\_Stallyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Wyld\_Stallyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wyld_Stallyn)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-rush/169298/5 "2003-04-17T17:46:03Z")
I am an occasional user of Red Man and other smokeless full-leaf tobacco products (I rarely smoke: maybe two or three cigs a month). As a non-smoker, I know all about the rush that you get, and it’s definately not from the carbon monoxide, and definately _is_ from the drug content of the tobacco. Ah, disgusting unhealthy habits… ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-rush/169298/6 "2003-04-17T18:02:38Z")
It’s not oxygen deprivation, I don’t believe. The same thing happens when you chew tobacco (in fact, its much more noticeable when you chew tobacco), and carbon monoxide is a product of burning plant matter. ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-rush/169298/7 "2003-04-17T18:03:41Z")
Well, I worship frequently at the altar of Turkish Golds, and I never get that head rush any more, even if I have too many and end up feeling kind of gross, no dizzyness or anything. I definitely feel a very tangible rush, though, sort of an immediate “all is right with the world” feeling; I loosen up and my concentration improves (I smoke while doing homework, it helps!). I also frequent a place here in Austin that will bring a hookah to your table with some flavored tobacco in it, and that stuff has interesting effects. Non-smokers find it very mild and easy to smoke, and they do not get a headrush or nausea from it. Smokers and non-smokers alike get VERY chilled out, regardless of nicotine tolerance. All is extremely right with the world, man. And yes, it IS tobacco in the hookah. 😉 LC ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-rush/169298/8 "2003-04-17T19:18:38Z")
[Nicotine-Induced Limbic Cortical Activation in the Human Brain: A Functional MRI Study](http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:mhwxiLWXWa4C:fim.nimh.nih.gov/P29.pdf++%22inhaled+nicotine%22+rush&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) > [@](#): > > Nicotine induced a dose-dependent increase in several behavioral parameters, including feelings of “ **rush** ” and “high” and drug liking. Nicotine also induced a dose-dependent increase in neuronal activity in a distributed system of brain regions, including the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, cingulate, and frontal lobes. Activation in these structures is consistent with nicotine’s behavior-arousing and behavior- reinforcing properties in humans. Inhaled nicotine gets to the brain in \<15 seconds.