A typical cigarette contains about 6 mg to 12.6 mg of nicotine, with some cigarettes containing as much as around 28 mg. However, the actual amount of nicotine a smoker inhales is much less—usually about 1.1 to 1.8 mg per cigarette—because much of the nicotine is lost during burning. For a pack of 20 cigarettes, a smoker may inhale approximately 22 to 36 mg of nicotine. This variation depends on the cigarette brand, size, and smoking behavior.
