It is a suprisingly powerful drug. I gave up cigarettes over 20 years ago and have zero craving for them, the smell is revolting. Looking back, the craving felt a lot like fasting. However today, I have a cigar a little more than once a month on average, and I can tell the nicotine content affects mood, sleep, and maybe some hormone levels for a day or two after, as much or moreso than most prescriptions I've ever taken. There is extra focus and centeredness under its influence and a kind of diminished neuroticism, which I suppose was what made it "cool." There are other factors on that as well, since who today has an hour of uninterrupted solitude (let alone in good company) to sit and do nothing but contemplate, with the space of your own to temporarily pollute, and afford to spend the kind of money on yourself that a good one costs. It would be hard to separate this mini-vacation from the percieved smart drug effects of nicotine. Cigarettes are evil and cruel in every concievable way, and anyone under their yoke who breaks it deserves support.

Fan of OP's interintellect startup as well.