Prologue: The Buzz

PROLOGUE: THE BUZZ

YOU NEVER FORGET the first hit.

Maybe it was a cigarette behind a gas station. A vape cloud in the back of someone’s car. A dip at a bonfire. A Zyn that made your eyebrows sweat.

Whatever it was — it hit.
Fast. Sharp. Like someone flipped a dopamine switch in your skull and your spine went, ohhhhhh okay.

That was nicotine. That was the buzz.
And chances are, you chased it again.

But here’s the thing they don’t tell you in school (besides literally everything):
Nicotine isn’t just a chemical. It’s a story. A ritual. A survival mechanism that got hijacked, repackaged, and sold back to us with mint flavoring and a surgeon general’s side-eye.

It’s older than Jesus.
More addictive than cocaine.
And somehow, it’s still considered chill — as long as you’re not lighting up in a Chili’s.

This book isn’t here to scare you straight or quote studies at you.
We’re just gonna tell the story. From leaf to pouch. Pipe to patent. War rations to vape clouds.

Nicotine is everywhere — in your lungs, your bloodstream, your family history, your friend group, your convenience store, your college memories, your New Year’s resolutions, and your dopamine system.

It’s the habit we love to pretend isn’t really a drug.
It’s the crutch we call a choice.
It’s the ghost in the pouch.

This isn’t just the history of a plant.
It’s the biography of a buzz — and the empire it built.

Let’s take a hit.