Always room for debate and observations in good faith. It's just that a lot of people don't get past the "nicotine by itself without cigarettes" distinction before commenting, and those are the ones I was referring to as knee-jerk, especially because that distinction is an important part of the nicotine-as-medicine advice.

The fact that many people here know (or are, like yourself) long-time smokers who are more healthy than average non-smokers should give everybody pause to reflect on generally accepted medical "truths."

The food pyramid has been so extremely wrong for so long people take it for granted that it's a lie. Even knowing this, many continue to believe that margarine is healthier than butter, fluoride is good for you, chemotherapy is a helpful tool, and eggs and salt are bad despite all evidence to the contrary.