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I posted it before bed, so i'll try and flesh out what i said a bit more. I'll answer in a slightly different order than i posted, and one also needs to think long term with the effects of the drug in your system.
Addiction - You get addicted (physically and physiologically) to nicotine very easily, thats well documented. Addiction leads to tolerance which causes you to want and need more, leading to increases of side effects associated with higher levels of the drug. As someone who has been through a serious addiction to certain things, i'm always exceptionally warey of anything that causes even the most minor addiction.
Heart - Increases oxidative stress on the tissues, increases the amount of work the heart requires to do for a given workload (through stimulation of the sympathetic ANS causing catecholamine release), increases blood pressure (through increased heart loading), all of which are bad for your heart.
Cancer - (i'm not that well versed on cancer, so please excuse me if this sounds a little clunky) nictoine promotes the development of lung cancers via stimulation of the. Nictoine doesn't appear to cause cancer directly, but it seems to help once cells start heading that way.
Brain chemistry - !besker's post hadn't gone through by the time i'd posted, i was unawares that it had some neuroprotective effects, it's actually very interesting to read about! There also appears to be some relation to reducing dopamine levels in schizophrenic patients, which i find fascinating. But back to the subject at hand before i get too distracted by the biochemistry of mental illness
As mentioned before, the brain builds up a tolerance to nicotine that can cause dependance upon the drug for normal functioning (i would consider this a negative change). i've also just read a few studies that there is a link to the persons mood stability and the likelyhood of smoking, though this is a somewhat controversial area of study it seems. There is some suggestion that brain activation in various areas (e.g. frontal lobes) can be affected by nicotine intake.
Personally the negative aspects of nictotine on the brain far outweigh any neuroprotective effect one might gain.
As for e.t.c, i can't honestly remember! My apologies there. I do hope what i've written has cleared things up a bit, if not do say so.
thanks for the clarification, i just wanted to make sure u werent givin some knee-jerk response without knowing anything as many people in this world do
long-term side effects is definately something to be concerned of as is the case with everything we put in our bodies
increased oxidative stress comes from just about everything, caffeine and working out and breathing come to mind, i believe a well-rounded diet with proper anti-oxidants and omega 3's would help offset the negatives and are things we should all be taking anyways and blood pressure is raised by many factors; caffeine, exercise, poor diet
on the cancer issue, i still believe it is the crap in cigarettes that causes it as smoking in general is a carcinogen, not saying nicotine helps the situation just that i believe nicotine without it coming from smokin is different
u are right about tolerance but again this goes for any drug but i believe the addiction to which u say u are vulnerable to may cloud ur judgement on this whole issue
im not sayin that what u have written has no merit to it, it does, im just trying to point a few things out. what no one has mentioned is that like ephedrine it is a vasoconstricsor which can cause elevated blood pressure, and that it is not great for insulin sensitivity but that may be offset by its effects on leptin
get back to me as i enjoy discussions like this and responding and/or refuting what u say in writing helps me and i believe others think issues through more clearly and gives them more knowledge on an issue, being forced to write down ur beliefs in a logical manner allows us to take a bunch of information and theories that in our head make sense but when forced to explain them we realize all we had was a bunch of abstract and vague thoughts
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