More Nicotine After finding out that one didn't need a prescription for nicotine gum, I went out and bought some. I bought the 2mg/piece gum, "for those who smoke less than 25 cigarettes a day". Since I smoke zero cigarettes a day, these should do the job, and then some, I thought when buying them.

It wasn't as nasty as I'd been led to believe, at first. It did get progressively nastier the more I chewed it, but it was tolerable. Gauging the effect of the gum is more difficult. I felt OK, with no jitters or the high-pitched whine I hear in my ears when I've had too much nicotine, but neither was I sure that I'd gotten enough to give me the focused feeling I normally get after smoking a cigar. Experimentation is bound to yield the correct result, or kill me.  ¶ 23:07