I was joking iwth my dad about soaking his gummy bears in nicotine instead of buying our $15 a pack cigarettes (our = the province of Saskatchewan’s).
This got me thinking… what is nicotine’s natural state? Could I buy an industrial bin of nicotine?
Nicotine is a natural part of the tobacco plant. It can be extracted, but you need the tobacco plant to start with.
It’s also found in eggplants, but in much, much smaller amounts.
As one of the most toxic substances known, nicotine is most definitely not be messed with Here’s one of many descriptions from the web: http://chemweb.calpoly.edu/chem/bailey/377/PapersSp2000/Kevin/nicotine.html
It’s massively toxic by ingestion or skin contact: there have been cases of death from smuggling tobacco plant leaves against the skin, eating as little as a single cigarette, and also of gardeners dying from attempts to make insecticide by boiling up tobacco dregs.