Wellbeing

Nicotine Inhalers are another alternative nicotine replacement product (nicotine replacement therapy or NRT). The nicotine inhaler is a plastic tube shaped roughly like a cigarette (or more like an old fashioned cigarette filter).

The nicotine inhaler contains cartridges which deliver nicotine into the mouth when the user 'puffs' on them. Each cartridge lasts about 20 minutes when continuously puffed and delivers on average about 4mg of nicotine into the mouth. About half of the nicotine is then slowly absorbed through the cheeks and into the blood stream, this is around the same amount of nicotine as two cigarettes.

Common side effects of nicotine inhalers include throat and mouth irritation and coughing. If these symptoms persist it is important to consult your physician. Nicotine inhalers are usually available by prescription only.

The downside of these inhalers is they don't do anything to combat the smokers behavioral addition of grabbing a thin tube and sucking on it.  Some argue that this inhaler even by its size and shape is not about stopping the smoker smoking, its about replacing their smoking with a permanent new habit that will benefit the drug company the sells them. Proponents of this method claim a high level of success in that those that use it do in fact stop smoking for the very reason that the delivery method is so close to smoking. Whichever way you look at it, delivery of nicotine through an inhaler is still inherently safer than through a cigarette.