Nicotine is the evil here, except being the addictive substance, the one that holds our freedom away is also a potent stimulant responsible for raising our heart rate, blood pressure and also responsible for the constriction of our arteries. Wow was the first word that came out of my mouth when I learned that. This means that all those people that are using NRT’s (Nicotine Replacement Therapies) are still in great danger of losing their life prematurely from cardiovascular illnesses and circulatory problems including heart attack and stroke.