Recommendation (from TRS)
ECDD Technical summary
Although nicotine is a dependence-producing substance, nicotine patches and chewing-gum do not lead to a level of nicotine in the blood high enough to produce the psychotropic effect the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971, is concerned with, namely, "hallucinations or disturbances in motor function or thinking or behaviour or perception or mood". In the future, new therapeutic nicotine-replacement preparations may enable the user's blood concentration of nicotine to reach a level high enough to produce such psychotropic effects. However, there is no evidence of significant abuse of such preparations at present. The Committee did not recommend nicotine for critical review, unless
new information became available suggesting the significant abuse liability of new therapeutic nicotine products. In composite drug names containing both a chemical prefix and an INN, the INN is distinguished by being italicized. However, the Committee recommended tobacco for pre-review because of the potential for a higher blood concentration of nicotine when tobacco is smoked, resulting in a greater liability for abuse and associated public health problems.