The spinMyth 06 of 14
“Nicotine causes cancer.”
Nicotine isn’t classified as a carcinogen. The cancer comes from the smoke — which is exactly why removing the smoke matters.
The evidence
The World Health Organization’s cancer agency lists tobacco smoke as a known cause of cancer. Nicotine itself has never been classified as one.
IARC classifies tobacco smoke and smokeless tobacco as Group 1 carcinogens; nicotine itself has not been classified.32 The US FDA says it’s “the thousands of chemicals contained in tobacco and tobacco smoke that make tobacco use so deadly”.30
A 2025 evidence review by UK academics: “The research consensus is that nicotine does not cause cancer, nor is it linked in isolation to most of the diseases that smoking causes.”31 In a long-running US lung study, years of nicotine-gum use didn’t predict cancer; smoking predicted lung cancer.33
Nicotine replacement therapy is on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines.34
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Why this site exists
Nicotine hooked me. Smoke nearly killed me. Vapour gave me my breath back.
Read my story →