| Millions of smokers set fire to it and inhale it every day. | | | | Tobacco and it's derivative products became very |
| Millions more chew on it and as many more again | | | | popular almost overnight. Snuff (powdered tobacco) |
| snort it up their nose. What is this substance? | | | | was snorted by the upperclass in Europe habitually |
| Tobacco of course. Where did these habits come | | | | and in public. It was quite a polite thing to do amongst |
| from though? Why did we start using tobacco as a | | | | friends. The act of smoking cigars and cigarettes |
| means of relief or social acceptance? More to the | | | | achieved a huge level of popularity. To deal with this |
| point what exactly is tobacco and where does it come | | | | demand tobacco plantations were established on the |
| from? | | | | east coast of the Americas. The first of these |
| The tobacco plant is a member of the broad leafed | | | | plantations was set up by John Rolfe (husband of |
| family of plants known as nightshade. Now for those | | | | Pocahontas) in Jamestown, Virginia. Rolfe made an |
| of you not familiar with this particular genus of plant | | | | absolute fortune from the tobacco trade in just a few |
| one member of the nightshade family is the deadly | | | | short years and many others were to follow in his |
| nightshade plant. It's not called "deadly" for fun. It's | | | | footsteps. |
| called that because it contains a lethal poison that was | | | | Incredibly tobacco was used a treatment for diseases |
| used in the middle ages by assassins and spies. The | | | | by many European doctors until the 1800's. At one |
| wonderful tobacco plant is a member of the same | | | | point in France it was referred to as the Holy plant. It |
| family. Neat eh? The tobacco plant is indigenous to | | | | was only after emerging modern chemistry isolated |
| North and South America - meaning that it only grows | | | | nicotine as the active ingredient in tobacco that it was |
| naturally in those parts of the world. | | | | no longer prescribed as a medical treatment due to |
| Native Americans used tobacco in large quantities to | | | | possible harmful side effects. |
| induce trance states. This was always done under the | | | | So tobacco was exported from the Americas to |
| careful guidance of a shaman (medicine man). When | | | | Europe via the native Americans. I suppose you could |
| the Europeans arrived in America they adopted the | | | | argue that the widespread addiction to nicotine is the |
| practice of smoking tobacco as the natives did. It | | | | the whitemans price for the widespread slaughter of |
| became so popular amongst the "settlers" that it was | | | | native Americans? Or perhaps not. Either way it's |
| then exported back to Europe where it became | | | | something to consider in terms of karma. |
| incredibly popular amongst the rich and well-to-do. | | | | |