The article implies it as well. This article says it is as well: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2019/05/414326/alzheimers-disease-double-prion-disorder-study-shows

Smoking is a significant risk factor for Alzheimer’s so if nicotine itself helps then it’s definitely not by smoking.

Yeah, it’s probably not a very profitable service, if at all.

The fact that it improves safety is a claim that can easily be challenged as recently it seems to have put people in harms way. Texas police used it to stalk a woman across state lines to find out if she got an abortion elsewhere.