Part 1 of Essay
is one of the leading preventable causes of death in the United States. Nicotine, which is an alkaloid derived from the plant, is a potent chemical that has powerful effects on the human body, especially when administered rapidly or at high doses. Prenatal exposure to nicotine is associated with adverse reproductive outc ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... Nicotine crosses the human placenta and has direct effects on the developing fetus. Pre-clinical studies suggest that maternal smoking during pregnancy produces changes on the offspring's neural functioning, including reductions in uptake of serotonin, alterations in dopaminergic systems, alterations in peripheral and central noradrenergic neurons, and changes in DNA and RNA synthesis in the brain (9). Children prenatally exposed to nicotine consistently score lower in the two subcategories of expressive ....