Is it? I thought it's basically addictive.

Pretty much. I've never smoked, and tried picking up nicotine at one point (via patches and gum) because it's one of the safest nootropic substances we know with a clear effect next to caffeine. (My tolerance was too low and in the end I couldn't be bothered to figure out the dosing).

Even the physical addictiveness of nicotine is not that strong when separated from the rituals of smoking compared to e.g. caffeine (where addiction is also massively affected by rituals).

That’s incorrect.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine

> Nicotine is classified as a poison. However, at doses used by consumers, it presents little if any hazard to the user.