This has been a genuine concern of mine given how much tobacco/nicotine I was consuming. Even though I switched to vapes long ago I can already tell my lungs were "under duress" given the amount. My entire breathing system has been going through recovery since I stopped and its obvious it impacts things.
I guess if you want to do nicotine the only "safe" way to do it is the Zyn pouch things, but vaping is really hardcore because of how addictive it is. Really not a good thing for people with addictive tendencies and what makes it worse than cigarettes is you don't even get "smoker's cough" as much - you can sit vaping 24/7 and it won't sound like it is impacting you.
Beside all of that there are numerous studies about the anxiety impacts of nicotine so for people who "smoke to calm their nerves" and then end up "drinking to calm their nerves" there might be a lot of explanation with the consumption of nicotine. It is a highly, highly potent central nervous stimulant (CNS) much like Ritalin or Adderall and if you're sitting around vaping 24/7 or smoking a carton of cigarettes a day then it can really push you into extreme anxiety mode where alcohol ends up relieving it (of course: no one starts alcohol or nicotine with this stuff in mind)
For people who smoke or vape constantly your entire nervous system is basically being flooded with a less hardcore version of cocaine all day long. It has a huge impact on you whether you want to believe it or not. And once you smoke enough you don't actually "feel" anything anymore, its just a blur but it still impacts you.
