Tech Startups Are Handing Out Free Nicotine Pouches to Boost Productivity(www.wsj.com)
15 pointsby iancmceacherna month ago5 comments
  • Fizz43a month ago
    Why is the American tech culture so comically evil. Even if this does boost productivity surely we would think that offering workers addictive substances like nicotine pouches is unacceptable behavior. I cant imagine any of the places I've worked at thinking this was an acceptable idea let alone a good idea.

    Maybe im just out of touch.

    • iancmceacherna month ago
      I worked at one, with famous folks, where the CEO took Nicotine and Caffeine pills, had them in the cabinet. When I mentioned that nicotine was bad for you, he was surprised.

      He had 2 PHDs

      • peterfireflya month ago
        Nicotine itself seems to be remarkably benign. Smoking is bad, snuff is bad.
        • iancmceacherna month ago
          Except for the cardiovascular damage.
          • Lapsaa month ago
            source please. afaik nicotine on itself is near negligibly harmful
            • treeskneesa month ago
              https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11350241/

              https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/advance-article/doi/10.10...

              https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/nicotine-pouches/index.html

              • Lapsaa month ago
                I still don't see it. bunch of word salad. writing "safer nicotine products" in quotation marks and emphasizing that they ain't safe as if nobody's noticing a straw man argument. from what I gathered - whole thing is based upon Swedish research that states death is 2 times more likely (!!!) AFTER the heart attack while explicitly stating: "No increased risk of MI incidence has been observed in previous studies". because funky data extrapolation. oh well - at least they ain't crying that nicotine is the cause of cancer...
                • treeskneesa month ago
                  You likely didn’t read the sources. If you are already convinced of your (incorrect) position and assumptions despite ample evidence, why ask for sources?

                  From the second link:

                  >In this policy statement, 12 evidence-based key messages that highlight the CV [cardio vascular] toxicity of nicotine are presented, irrespective of delivery system.

                  So it doesn’t matter if it’s smoking, patches, gum, pouches, whatever. Nicotine is addictive and harmful. Perhaps not as harmful when it’s not combined with tobacco and all the other substances that come with cigarettes, but it’s not benign or harmless.

                  • Lapsaa month ago
                    you likely didn't read that I did read sources and sources sources are based upon likely likely
      • hulitua month ago
        > When I mentioned that nicotine was bad for you, he was surprised.

        You should have give him radium. /s

        > He had 2 PHDs

        A lot of politicians have a doctoral degree. It doesn't help.

    • salawata month ago
      The love of money is the root of all evil. The tech industry is obsessed with tapping and creating new value flows to intermediate. It should be fairly obvious.
  • nis0sa month ago
    At some point, we have to figure out how to work smarter, not harder. I am not sure working longer pays more dividends, but working better definitely would.

    How do you optimize for better work? It’s unclear to me how the answer lies in caffeine, nicotine, or cocaine. Yes, you’re more active, but are your energies being spent in the right direction or activities? This is where leadership is important, and no amount of nicotine in the world will fix bad leadership or direction.

  • peterfireflya month ago
    I've heard some of them also have free coffee.
  • diydspa month ago
    >custom-made vending machines for Palantir
  • bdangubica month ago
    pay so low workers can’t afford to buy nicotine pouches on their own?