There are a lot of people who have found that one or two cigarettes a day keeps depression at bay. There are biochemical reasons to believe them. Who are you to tell them they should have to get a prescription SSRI?
That would be the nicotine stimulating the release of glutamine and dopamine. The value there is in the nicotine, not in the tobacco. You can get nicotine separately from tobacco trivially.
It's not just nicotine. Tobacco smoke has compounds like beta-globulines that lower serotonin and estrogen. There are also arguments that low doses of carbon monoxide can have therapeutic affects.
...but reduced serotonin levels are linked to depression. The entire point of SSRIs is to keep your serotonin levels higher and thus improve synaptic signalling. Wouldn't reducing your serotonin production be bad?
