I came across a medical website describing this phenomenon.
Nicotine poisoning results from too much nicotine. Acute nicotine poisoning usually occurs in young children who accidentally chew on nicotine gum or patches.
One more reason to just go cold turkey if you decide to stop smoking. Don't......I repeat don't use Nicoderm, Nicoderm CQ, Commit, Nicotrol, or Nicorette.......these products are all owned or manufactured by Johnson & Johnson Company whose political wing RWJF funds the lies about secondhand smoke in order to encourage lawmakers to pass smoking bans, and increase their sales revenue.
Children exposed to secondhand effects of Nicoderm, Nicoderm CQ, Commit, Nicotrol, or Nicorette, are poisoned everyday. Secondhand effects of the aforementioned products is that these products are commonly found in homes, medicine cabinets, automobiles where children accidently ingest them with dangerous results.
Another indication that the "cure" is as bad as the original addiction to cigarettes:
http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=18612&name=NICORETTE&page=1
Update: According to a new report, alternative nicotine products may cause cancer.
http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2009/04/smoking-bans-promote-use-of-replacement.html
Reminder: Smoking bans closed thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of hospitality businesses, eliminating one to several hundred thousand jobs...the unemployment snowballed into other industry sectors...bringing the world economy to its current status.