One of the most disturbing facts I’ve come across is the addition of freebase nicotine to most popular brands of cigarettes. The cigarette drug lords have your number and your life long addiction is their goal. The companies that manufacture cigarettes, alcohol and prescription medications all have one thing in common: they want your money regardless of whether or not you die. They also want your money regularly. They actually make more money as their consumers die and new ones take their place. Death is part of the business model and is a necessary element to perpetuate its success.
What is Freebase Nicotine?
As most of you already know, cigarettes contain much more than tobacco. Actually, most brands of cigarettes contain only 50% tobacco; the rest are additives. What is the other 50%? What kind of additives?
Basically, they make a product called tobacco RECON. It starts with tobacco dust or Offal – all the trash scraped from machinery, swept from the floor and so forth. Also added are cellulosic materials like wood pulp. This is mixed up in a giant vat and a disgusting dark brown fluid called “Mother Liquor” is derived through repetitive hot water extraction. This is like a million cigarette butts in a jar of water, only using the best chemical extraction techniques.
But that is just the beginning of the “Mother Liquor” (I think I’m gonna puke). You would think this fluid is poisonous enough, but it isn’t. They add up to 599 additives into the mix. Finally, a paper-like cellulose is soaked in the pungent liquor, dried and shredded up into a tobacco like product.
One of the main ingredients in this mixture is chemically altered nicotine. Most of you are already aware that crack cocaine is known as freebase, a smokable form which is the most addictive. Cocaine is bad enough normally, but the freebase form is much worse. A very similar process is used in manufacturing cigarettes.
In normal tobacco, much of the nicotine is chemically bound in the fibers. To fix this and make cigarettes 100 times more addictive, they extract the freebase form of nicotine using ammonia chemistry and add it into the Mother Liquor. This ensures that every drag of smoke you take is filled with freebase nicotine and hits you just like crack. This makes nicotine burn into a gaseous form, which is more readily absorbed by the lungs. It’s nice to know that the tobacco drug lords have your best interests in mind.
Are Cigarette Smokers Drug Addicts?
Yes they are. One thing about society that gets under my skin is how people who smoke, drink alcohol or are addicted to prescription medications are seen in a different light than street drug addicts on meth, cocaine, heroin or marijuana.
One major problem is how people perceive drug addicts. They often look down on them and see them as degenerates, untrustworthy or criminals. We fill our prisons with addicts and dealers – when they are released, they can’t even get a job. You should not look down on anyone as no one is above addiction.
If tobacco were made illegal, it would be the #1 illegal drug in the world, turning millions into criminals overnight.
I personally believe that all drugs should be decriminalized in favor of drug treatment. Many US states have what is called a drug court program – this allows drug offenders to get professional treatment and a clean criminal record. Instead of just throwing them in jail, they are given another chance as well a clearing their criminal charges. This is a step in the right direction.
It’s hard to believe that it’s legal to manufacture super addictive cigarettes with freebase nicotine. If cocaine were legal, imagine the groundbreaking science that would make it 1000 times more addictive. The tobacco industry is the best at this type of science and make illegal drug chemistry look like child’s play by comparison.
I used to smoke and quitting was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. I still want a cigarette everyday, though I quit years ago. The cravings never go away and I’ll be wanting a smoke for the rest of my life. Though none of the information in this article is unique or new, it is my hope that it helps someone out there quit smoking. Don’t hesitate to get professional help, nicotine addiction is as difficult to overcome as any street drug. You may not realize that cocaine is only psychologically addictive, while cigarettes are physically addictive. In my opinion, it is easier to quit cocaine.
I recommend you to read my articles:
- Extremely Disturbing Facts – Drug Testing
- The Hypocrisy of Alcohol Versus Drugs
- Death By Cigarette – a fiction horror story you may enjoy.
Much of the information in this article was derived from The World Health Organization pdf.



#1 by CK at August 5th, 2008
| Quote
Whoa, those are some seriously scary facts. Eek.
And I’m with you on decriminalising drugs. For sure treatment should be the goal not further stigmatisation of an already marginalised group.
#2 by Revellian at August 5th, 2008
| Quote
@CK: I still cannot believe they add freebase nicotine to the cigarettes – it should be illegal. I bet 80% of people in jail for using drugs could be helped in much better ways
#3 by teeni at August 5th, 2008
| Quote
I didn’t have a clue as to how cigarettes were made although I knew that there were lots of chemical additives. This post is a real eye opener! It makes me so happy that I quit smoking and really makes me hope that the rest of my family can do it too. I went to a hypnotist and I highly recommend it for anyone who can’t do it on their own.
#4 by Kima at August 5th, 2008
| Quote
Ps. No longer a Sandman
Ok, after starting this comment with a ps in a weird way, lemme say I am a nicotine addict.
This coming October 2nd is the birthday of the “Father of our Nation” – the great Mahatma Gandhi. And on this day, our Government is going to enforce a never implemented before law – A Nation wide ban on tobacca.
This means we can no longer smoke in bars, restaurants, clubs, in public etc… and I see this as a golden opportunity for me to kick the habit, for good.
I really really hope I can do it. I look for inspiration in you, oh great quitter. Tell me your secret!
#5 by Robin at August 5th, 2008
| Quote
Very disturbing! I can’t believe that is legal. My grandmother died of emphysema, with a cigarette in her hand till the very last.
#6 by Revellian at August 5th, 2008
| Quote
@Teeni: It’s amazing isn’t it? Cigarettes are scientifically designed to get you hooked…period. I’m glad you quit!
@Kima: No more Sandman? I prefer your real name anyway! Many places in the US have the same tobacco laws. Smoking in a public building is illegal in my hometown. If you get caught thumping a cig butt out your car window, it’s a $1000.00 fine. For me, the secret to quitting is in handling all those situations that remind me to smoke; after dinner, while driving and so forth. The cravings are still there, but they only last 8-15 minutes (according to scientific studies). If I can make it through that time, I avoid smoking. It is not easy my friend.
@Robin: Cigarette companies are the ultimate drug dealers and should be seen in the same light as cocaine drug lords like Pablo Escobar. I’m sorry to hear about your grandmother, that’s so sad. The best bet is to never try it!
#7 by Genie Princess at August 6th, 2008
| Quote
Hi Bobby, I didn’t know what’s really in a cigarette until today, thanks for sharing and good for u for quitting.
Good luck to Sandman!
#8 by Revellian at August 6th, 2008
| Quote
Hi Marzie! I used to smoke a lot, but finally quit. It was not easy
#9 by Rick at August 7th, 2008
| Quote
Oh my gosh, I have to quit! Thanks for reminding me just how bad these things are. I know I’m addicted. I’m 40 now and I was addicted to crack in my early 20’s. I managed to quit that crap, but cigarettes are much much harder to quit.
#10 by Revellian at August 7th, 2008
| Quote
@Rick: I agree 100%, cigarettes are much harder to quit than crack but it can be done. It’s much more difficult for smokers these days with the addition of freebase nicotine
#11 by Rick at August 7th, 2008
| Quote
Well many years ago, I was on Welbutrin for a short time. It completely stopped my cigarette cravings, but that’s before I knew Welbutrin is also used as a quit smoking aid. Perhaps I’ll try that again, but I just wanted people to know it works much better than patches, gum, etc..
#12 by Revellian at August 7th, 2008
| Quote
Hi Rick, I’ve tried all kinds of things from Welbutrin to nicotine gum, but none worked for very long. I just quit cold turkey and suffered through all the mood swings. I hope I stay cig free permanently
#13 by Michelle Gartner at August 8th, 2008
| Quote
I read this when you first posted it- but it just got me all irritated. I quit smoking 8 years ago, so did my husband, but he started up again 3 years ago after almost 5 years off. Then he quit for two months recently and when your post came up he had just started up again about a week prior. I really hope he can stay off them for good as I am worried about his health. I don’t miss being trapped by cigarettes.
#14 by Revellian at August 9th, 2008
| Quote
Hi Michelle! I completely understand how you feel. Because I have overcome drugs and cigarettes (I’m lucky to just be alive after what I’ve done), I know that the only person’s addictions I control are mine – I’m sure you know that too. My mom has been smoking for 50 years and will never quit until it kills her. No matter how irritated I get with her, there is nothing I can do. If I complain, she smokes even more. I hope you husband quits, but that is his decision. I hope and pray your children don’t smoke when they get older. I’m not married, but if I do, it’ll probably be to a smoker…LOL!
#15 by Joel at October 27th, 2008
| Quote
That is really disgusting, I would wish that act of adding such harsh chemicals, just to get you hooked for life, should be considered genocide. It is sick when people consider Adolf Hitler to be the worst when it comes to genocide, when there are tobacco companies that create such an efficient way to kill their consumers (a striking 300,000 or more a year in the US alone). And, people consider the tobacco companies less intimidating… What a sad day we live in, when everything is determined by worth. Why isn’t it worth more to keep people alive to tax, rather than kill them prematurely? Wouldn’t it make more business sense to keep your consumers happy and living? Take bubble gum as an example of a product that wont kill you and is sold by the ton to people all over the world, tobacco isn’t the only big money producer in the world. This brings us back to the question of why is money worth more than life…?
#16 by Joel at October 27th, 2008
| Quote
Not only is smoking efficient to kill, it is also efficient in producing money. It actually surprises me that Adolf Hitler didn’t use these tactics to exterminate his “enemies”. Sorry for the examples with Hitler (I know it is a delicate topic), it’s just I’m so passionate about life and this topic of smoking is best put in perspective with the worst crime against humanity. I think if you do the math (all of the years of smoking related deaths and holocaust deaths), there were more deaths related to smoking than to Hitler’s holocaust. And just think, it was done for the most despicable reason of all, money.
#17 by Drug Dude at December 31st, 2008
| Quote
I’m no tobacco company apologist, but I think a lot of people overplay the societal harm of tobacco. Cigarettes and cigarette companies are bad, but to claim they are as bad as heroin and heroin dealers seems a little sensationalist to me. But I am open to argument