Students can focus without nicotine, and for anyone under 25 that is the smarter bet. Plenty of college students still reach for a nicotine vape or pouch before an exam, chasing the small alertness bump it delivers. Caffeine, sleep, and a few well-studied plant compounds do that job without handing the brain a dependency it never asked for. Nicotine feels like a focus tool because it is a stimulant, and because the relief from withdrawal reads as concentration. Cleveland Clinic pulmonologist Dr. Angela Wang puts it plainly: “There’s no such thing as a safe vape.”