View source for Tobacco

{{short description|Agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana}}
{{cs1 config|name-list-style=vanc}}
{{Distinguish|Tabacco (disambiguation){{!}}Tabacco|Tabaco|Tabasco|Tobago}}
{{About||the plant genus|Nicotiana|other uses|Tobacco (disambiguation) }}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox botanical product
| name             = Tobacco
| image            = DunhillLightFlake.jpg
| caption          = Tobacco flakes, sliced from pressed plugs
| plant            = ''[[Nicotiana]]''
| part             = [[Leaf]]
| origin           = [[The Americas]]
| active           = [[Nicotine]], [[harmine]]
| uses             = [[Recreational drug use|Recreational]], Sacred, Medical, Religious, Traditional, Peacemaking
| legal_AU = Unscheduled
| legal_BR = E
| legal_CA = Unscheduled
| legal_DE = Unscheduled
| legal_UK = GSL
| legal_US_comment = Unscheduled
| legal_UN = Unscheduled
| legal_status = In general, legal and regulated as a controlled substance for adult recreational use in most countries, tobacco smuggling or homemade tobacco making or growing is illegal in some areas. See [[tobacco control]]<br/>'''Footnote''':<br/>Carcinogenicity: [[IARC group 1]]
}}
{{Tobacco}}
[[File:A traditional tobacco drying kiln in Myrtleford, Victoria, Australia.jpg|thumb|Tobacco drying kiln in [[Myrtleford|Myrtleford, Victoria, Australia]], 2018. This kiln was built in 1957, and moved to Rotary Park in 2000. Kilns of this design were built from the early 1930s through to the late 1960s.]]
[[File:basma-tobacco-drying.jpg| thumb |Basma tobacco leaves drying in the sun at [[Pomak]] village in [[Xanthi, Greece]]]]

'''Tobacco''' is the common name of several [[plants]] in the genus ''[[Nicotiana]]'' of the family [[Solanaceae]], and the general term for any product prepared from the [[curing of tobacco|cured]] leaves of these plants. [[Nicotiana#Species|Seventy-nine species]] of tobacco are known, but the chief commercial crop is [[Nicotiana tabacum|''N. tabacum'']]. The more potent variant [[Nicotiana rustica|''N. rustica'']] is also used in some countries.

Dried tobacco leaves are mainly used for [[Tobacco smoking|smoking]] in [[cigarette]]s and [[cigar]]s, as well as [[pipe smoking|pipes]] and [[Mu'assel|shishas]]. They can also be consumed as [[Snuff (tobacco)|snuff]], [[chewing tobacco]], [[dipping tobacco]], and [[snus]].

Tobacco contains the highly addictive [[stimulant]] alkaloid [[nicotine]] as well as [[harmala alkaloid]]s.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Tobacco |encyclopedia=The Encyclopaedia of Psychoactive Substances |publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]] |last1=Rudgley |first1=Richard |author-link=Richard Rudgley |location=London |url=https://www.biopsychiatry.com/tobacco/ |access-date=November 26, 2017 |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-316-64347-4 |oclc=39129000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927041956/https://www.biopsychiatry.com/tobacco/ |archive-date=September 27, 2022 }}</ref> Due to the widespread availability and legality of tobacco, nicotine is one of the most widely used [[recreational drug use|recreational drugs]]. Tobacco use is a cause or risk factor for many deadly diseases, especially those affecting the [[heart]], [[liver]], and [[lung]]s,<ref>{{cite web |last1=CDC |title=What Are the Risk Factors for Lung Cancer? |date=August 2, 2023 |url=https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung/basic_info/risk_factors.htm#:~:text=Cigarette%20smoking%20is%20the%20number,of%20more%20than%207%2C000%20chemicals. |access-date=31 March 2024}}</ref> as well as [[Health effects of tobacco#Cancer|many cancers]]. In 2008, the [[World Health Organization]] named tobacco use as the world's single greatest preventable cause of death.<ref name="who 2008 mpower">{{Cite book |date=2008 |title=WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008 : The MPOWER Package. |url=https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43818/9789241596282_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121162003/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43818/9789241596282_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=January 21, 2022 |access-date=October 6, 2022 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] |pages=6, 8, 20 |isbn=978-92-4-068311-2 |oclc=476167599 |quote=Tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death in the world today.}}</ref>

[[File:Fumo Mercado Minas Gerais.jpg|thumb|In Minas Gerais, Brazil]]

==Etymology==
The English word ''tobacco'' originates from the Spanish word {{Lang|es|tabaco}}.<ref name="Ernst">{{Cite journal |last=Ernst |first=A. |date=1889 |title=On the etymology of the word tobacco |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1448956 |journal=[[American Anthropologist]] |volume=A2 |issue=2 |pages=133–142 |doi=10.1525/aa.1889.2.2.02a00020 |doi-access=free|issn = 0002-7294 }}</ref> The precise origin of this word is disputed, but it is generally thought to have derived, at least in part, from [[Taíno language|Taíno]], the [[Arawakan]] language of the [[Caribbean]]. In Taíno, it was said to mean either a roll of tobacco leaves (according to [[Bartolomé de las Casas]], 1552), or to {{Lang|tnq|tabago}}, a kind of Y-shaped pipe used for sniffing tobacco smoke (according to Oviedo, with the leaves themselves being referred to as {{Lang|tnq|cohiba}}).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hilton |first=Ronald |author-link=Ronald Hilton |title=Christopher Columbus discovers Cuba |date=April 3, 2011 |url=http://wais.stanford.edu/Cuba/cuba_ColumbusDiscoversCuba(110503).html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901214953/http://wais.stanford.edu/Cuba/cuba_ColumbusDiscoversCuba(110503).html |archive-date=September 1, 2011 |series=[[World Association of International Studies]] |publisher=[[Stanford University]]}}</ref><ref name=Ernst/>

However, perhaps coincidentally, similar words in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian were used from 1410 for certain medicinal [[herb]]s. These probably derived from the Arabic {{lang|ar|طُبّاق|rtl=yes}} {{transliteration|ar|ṭubbāq}} (also {{lang|ar|طُباق|rtl=yes}} {{transliteration|ar|ṭubāq}}), a word reportedly dating to the ninth century, referring to various herbs.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=طُباق |encyclopedia=[[Arabic–English Lexicon|An Arabic-English Lexicon: Derived From the Best and the Most Copious Eastern Sources]] |publisher=[[Williams and Norgate]] |location=London |url=http://ejtaal.net/aa/ |last=Lane |first=Edward William |date=1863 |author-link=Edward William Lane |volume=I, Book 5 |page=1827 |isbn=978-0-342-25192-6 |oclc=1299308839 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622063627/http://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=h660,ll=1916,ls=5,la=2636,sg=645,ha=438,pr=97,vi=240,mgf=549,mr=381,mn=839,aan=360,kz=1457,ulq=1133,uqa=265,uqw=990,umr=652,ums=546,umj=489,uqq=210,bdw=549,amr=392,asb=593,auh=947,dhq=338,mht=549,msb=147,tla=68,amj=481,ens=1,mis=1311 |archive-date=June 22, 2016 |issue=5 |access-date=June 21, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>The word {{transliteration|ar|ṭubāq}} no longer refers to various herbs, but has come to refer, in some dialects, specifically to tobacco. ''See'' {{Cite encyclopedia |title=طُباق |encyclopedia=A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic |publisher=[[Harrassowitz Verlag|Harrassowitz]] |location=Wiesbaden |url=http://ejtaal.net/aa/ |last=Wehr |first=Hans |date=1979 |author-link=Hans Wehr |editor-last=Cowan |editor-first=J Milton |editor-link=J Milton Cowan |edition=4th |page=647 |isbn=978-3-447-02002-2 |oclc=759999696 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622063627/http://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=660,ll=h1913,ls=h5,la=h2636,sg=h645,ha=h438,pr=h97,vi=h240,mgf=h549,mr=h381,mn=h839,aan=h360,kz=h1457,ulq=h1133,uqa=h265,uqw=h990,umr=h652,ums=h546,umj=h489,uqq=h210,bdw=550,amr=392,asb=593,auh=947,dhq=338,mht=549,msb=147,tla=68,amj=481,ens=1,mis=1311 |archive-date=June 22, 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |access-date=June 21, 2016 }}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of tobacco}}

{{See also|History of commercial tobacco in the United States}}
[[File:William Michael Harnett (American, 1848-1892). Still Life with Three Castles Tobacco, 1880.jpg|thumbnail|right|[[William Michael Harnett]] (American, 1848–1892), ''Still Life with Three Castles Tobacco'', 1880, [[Brooklyn Museum]]]]

===Cultural significance===
According to [[Iroquois mythology|Haudenosaunee mythology]], tobacco [[Origin myth|first grew]] out of Earth Woman's head after she [[Maternal death|died giving birth]] to her [[Twin|twin sons]], [[Hahgwehdiyu|Sapling and Flint]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Day|first=Ashley|date=November 20, 2023|title=''3 Sisters to Invite to Thanksgiving''|url=https://www.foodandwine.com/the-three-sisters-8404587|publisher=[[Food & Wine]]}}</ref>

===Traditional use===
[[File:Chute tobacco.JPG|thumb|The earliest depiction of a European man smoking, from ''Tobacco'' by [[Anthony Chute]], 1595]]
[[File:Rajput (Jodhpur) (8411728143).jpg|thumb|An [[Indian people|Indian]] man smoking tobacco through a [[hookah]], [[Rajasthan, India]]]]
Tobacco has long been used in the Americas, with some cultivation sites in Mexico dating back to 1400–1000 BCE.<ref>Goodman, Jordan. ''Tobacco in History and Culture: An Encyclopedia'' (Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2005).</ref> Many Native American tribes traditionally grow and use tobacco.<ref name=leonard>{{cite book
 |last=Leonard
 |first=Jonathan Norton
 |author-link=
 |date=1970
 |title=Recipes, Latin American cooking
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J8SLxAEACAAJ
 |location=
 |publisher=Time-Life International (Nederlands)
 |page= 21
 |isbn=978-0-8094-0063-8
}}</ref> Historically, people from the [[Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands|Northeast Woodlands cultures]] have carried tobacco in pouches as a readily accepted trade item. It was smoked both socially and [[Ceremonial pipe|ceremonially]], such as to seal a peace treaty or trade agreement.<ref>e.g. Heckewelder, ''History, Manners and Customs of the Indian Nations who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania'', p. 149 ff.</ref><ref>"They smoke with excessive eagerness&nbsp;... men, women, girls and boys, all find their keenest pleasure in this way." – Dièreville describing the [[Mi'kmaq people|Mi'kmaq]], ''circa'' 1699 in ''Port Royal''.</ref> In some Native cultures, tobacco is seen as a gift from the [[Creator deity|Creator]], with the ceremonial tobacco smoke carrying one's thoughts and prayers to the Creator.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gottsegen |first=Jack Jacob |title=Tobacco: A Study of Its Consumption in the United States |date=1940 |publisher=[[Pitman (publisher)|Pitman]] |page=107 |oclc=14728283}}</ref>

Some Native Americans consider tobacco to be a medicine and advocate for its respectful usage, rather than a commercial one.<ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|204813987}} |last1=Cohen |first1=Ken |title=Native American medicine |journal=Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine |volume=4 |issue=6 |date=November 1998 |pages=45–57 |pmid=9810067 }}</ref>

===Popularization===
[[File:A Smoking Club.jpeg|thumb|An illustration from [[Frederick William Fairholt]]'s ''Tobacco, its History and Association'', 1859]]
[[File:KITLV - 26868 - Kleingrothe, C.J. - Medan - Tobacco plant and tobacco leaf, Deli - circa 1905.tif|thumb|Tobacco plant and tobacco leaf from the [[Deli Company|Deli plantations]] in Sumatra, 1905]]
Following the arrival of the Europeans to the Americas, tobacco became increasingly popular as a trade item. In 1559, [[Francisco Hernández de Toledo]], Spanish chronicler of the Indies, was the first European to bring tobacco seeds to the [[Old World]], following orders of King [[Philip II of Spain]]. These seeds were planted in the outskirts of [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], more specifically in an area known as "Los Cigarrales" named after the continuous plagues of [[cicadas]] ({{Lang|es|cigarras}} in Spanish). Before the development of the lighter Virginia and white burley strains of tobacco, the smoke was too harsh to be inhaled. Small quantities were smoked at a time, using a pipe like the ''[[midwakh]]'' or ''[[kiseru]],'' or newly invented waterpipes such as the [[bong]] or the [[hookah]] (see [[Nicotiana rustica#Vietnam|thuốc lào]] for a modern continuance of this practice). Tobacco became so popular that the English colony of Jamestown used it as currency and began exporting it as a cash crop; tobacco is often credited as being the export that saved Virginia from ruin.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism|last=Appleby|first=Joyce|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2010|pages=131}}</ref> While a lucrative product, the growing expansion of tobacco demand was intimately tied to the history of [[slavery]] in the Caribbean.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tobacco and slavery : a neverending history |url=https://www.medicusmundi.ch/de/advocacy/publikationen/mms-bulletin/fighting-tobacco-in-lmic/kapitel-3/tobacco-and-slavery-a-neverending-history |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=www.medicusmundi.ch |language=de}}</ref>

The alleged benefits of tobacco also contributed to its success. The astronomer [[Thomas Harriot]], who accompanied [[Sir Richard Grenville]] on his 1585 expedition to [[Roanoke Island]], thought that the plant "openeth all the pores and passages of the body" so that the bodies of the natives "are notably preserved in health, and know not many grievous diseases, wherewithal we in England are often times afflicted."<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4247/4247-h/4247-h.htm |title=A BRIEFE AND TRUE REPORT OF THE NEW FOUND LAND OF VIRGINIA |last=Hariot |first=Thomas |date=1590 |publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]]}}</ref>

Production of tobacco for smoking, chewing, and snuffing became a major industry in Europe and its colonies by 1700.<ref>Eric Burns, ''The Smoke of the Gods: A Social History of Tobacco'' (2006), A popular history focused on the US.</ref><ref>Jordan Goodman, ''Tobacco in History: The Cultures of Dependence'' (1993), A scholarly history worldwide.</ref>

Tobacco has been a major [[cash crop]] in Cuba and in other parts of the Caribbean since the 18th century. Cuban cigars are world-famous.<ref>Charlotte Cosner, ''The Golden Leaf: How Tobacco Shaped Cuba and the Atlantic World'' (Vanderbilt University Press; 2015)</ref>

Cigarettes became increasingly popular in the late 19th century when [[James Bonsack]] invented a machine to automate cigarette production. This increase in production allowed tremendous growth in the [[tobacco industry]] until the health revelations of the 20th century.<ref>Richard Kluger, ''Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War'' (1996)</ref><ref>Allan Brandt, ''The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America'' (2007)</ref>

===Contemporary===
{{See also|Tobacco control|Tobacco in the United States}}

Following the scientific revelations of the early-to-mid-20th century, tobacco was condemned as a health hazard and eventually became recognized as a cause of cancer, as well as other respiratory and circulatory diseases. In the United States, this led to the adoption of the 1998 [[Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement]], which settled the many lawsuits by the U.S. states in exchange for a combination of yearly payments to the states and voluntary restrictions on advertising and marketing of tobacco products.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schroeder |first1=Steven A. |title=Tobacco Control in the Wake of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |date=15 January 2004 |volume=350 |issue=3 |pages=293–301 |doi=10.1056/NEJMsr031421 |pmid=14715919 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

In the 1970s, [[Brown & Williamson]] crossbred tobacco to produce [[Y1 (tobacco)|Y1]], a strain containing an unusually high nicotine content, nearly doubling from 3.2–3.5% to 6.5%. In the 1990s, this prompted the [[Food and Drug Administration]] to allege that [[tobacco industry|tobacco companies]] were intentionally manipulating the nicotine content of [[cigarette]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Interviews – Dr. David Kessler {{!}} Inside The Tobacco Deal {{!}} Frontline |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/settlement/interviews/kessler.html |access-date=2023-04-20 |website=www.pbs.org}}</ref>

The desire of many addicted smokers to quit has led to the development of [[nicotine replacement therapy|tobacco cessation products]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Commissioner|first=Office of the|date=September 9, 2020|title=Want to Quit Smoking? FDA-Approved Products Can Help|url=https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/want-quit-smoking-fda-approved-products-can-help|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427202103/https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/want-quit-smoking-fda-approved-products-can-help|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 27, 2019|journal=FDA|language=en}}</ref>

In 2003, in response to growth of tobacco use in developing countries, the [[World Health Organization]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/fctc/en/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527122132/http://www.who.int/fctc/en/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 27, 2008|title=WHO &#124; WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC)|publisher=Who.int|access-date=September 18, 2008}}</ref> successfully rallied 168 countries to sign the [[WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control|Framework Convention on Tobacco Control]]. The convention is designed to push for effective legislation and enforcement in all countries to reduce the harmful effects of tobacco.<ref>{{cite web|title=WHO {{!}} WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control|url=http://www.who.int/fctc/text_download/en/|access-date=February 17, 2021|publisher=WHO}}</ref> Between 2019 and 2021, concerns about increased COVID-19 health risks due to tobacco consumption facilitated smoking reduction and cessation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Haiyang |last2=Ma |first2=Jingjing |title=How the COVID-19 pandemic impacts tobacco addiction: Changes in smoking behavior and associations with well-being |journal=Addictive Behaviors |date=August 2021 |volume=119 |article-number=106917 |doi=10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.106917 |doi-access=free |pmid=33862579 |pmc=9186053 }}</ref>

==Biology==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2017}}

===''Nicotiana''===
{{Main|Nicotiana}}

{{See also|List of tobacco diseases}}
[[File:Nicotine.svg|thumb|[[Nicotine]] is the compound responsible for the addictive nature of tobacco use.]]
[[File:Native American tobacco flower.jpg|thumb|upright|Tobacco (''[[Nicotiana rustica]]'') flower, leaves, and buds]]
Many species of tobacco are in the genus of herbs ''Nicotiana''. It is part of the nightshade [[family (biology)|family]] ([[Solanaceae]]) indigenous to North and South America, Australia, south west Africa, and the [[Oceania|South Pacific]].<ref name="Lewis">{{cite journal|last1=Lewis|first1=Albert|title=Tobacco in New Guinea|journal=The American Anthropologist|date=1931|volume=33|issue=1|pages=134–139|doi=10.1525/aa.1931.33.1.02a00290|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Most nightshades contain varying amounts of [[nicotine]], a powerful [[neurotoxin]] to [[insect]]s. However, tobacco contains a much higher concentration of nicotine than the others. Unlike many other Solanaceae species, they do not contain [[tropane alkaloid]]s, which are often poisonous to humans and other animals.

Despite containing enough nicotine and other compounds such as [[germacrene]] and [[anabasine]] and other [[piperidine]] alkaloids (varying between species) to deter most [[herbivore]]s,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Panter |first1=KE |last2=Keeler |first2=RF |last3=Bunch |first3=TD |last4=Callan |first4=RJ |year=1990 |title=Congenital skeletal malformations and cleft palate induced in goats by ingestion of Lupinus, Conium and Nicotiana species |journal=Toxicon |pages=1377–1385 |volume=28 |issue=12 |pmid=2089736|doi=10.1016/0041-0101(90)90154-Y |bibcode=1990Txcn...28.1377P }}</ref> a number of such animals have [[evolution|evolve]]d the ability to feed on ''Nicotiana'' species without being harmed. Nonetheless, tobacco is unpalatable to many species due to its other attributes. For example, although the [[cabbage looper]] is a generalist pest, tobacco's gummosis and trichomes can harm early larvae survival.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Elsey |first1=K. D. |last2=Rabb |first2=R. L. |title=Biology of the Cabbage Looper on Tobacco In North Carolina1 |journal=Journal of Economic Entomology |date=1 December 1967 |volume=60 |issue=6 |pages=1636–1639 |doi=10.1093/jee/60.6.1636 }}</ref> As a result, some tobacco plants (chiefly ''N. glauca'') have become established as [[invasive weed]]s in some places.

===Types===
{{Main|Types of tobacco}}

The types of tobacco include:
* [[Types of tobacco#Aromatic Fire-cured|Aromatic fire-cured]] is cured by smoke from open fires. In the United States, it is grown in northern middle [[Tennessee]], central [[Kentucky]], and [[Virginia]]. Fire-cured tobacco grown in Kentucky and Tennessee is used in some chewing tobaccos, moist snuff, some cigarettes, and as a condiment in pipe tobacco blends. Another fire-cured tobacco is [[Latakia (tobacco)|Latakia]], which is produced from oriental varieties of ''N. tabacum''. The leaves are cured and smoked over smoldering fires of local hardwoods and aromatic shrubs in [[Cyprus]] and [[Syria]].
* [[Types of tobacco#Brightleaf tobacco (Virginia tobacco)|Brightleaf tobacco]] is commonly known as "Virginia tobacco", often regardless of the state where it is planted. Prior to the [[American Civil War]], most tobacco grown in the US was fire-cured dark-leaf. Sometime after the [[War of 1812]], demand for a milder, lighter, more aromatic tobacco arose. [[Ohio]], [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Maryland]] all innovated with milder varieties of the tobacco plant. Farmers discovered that brightleaf tobacco needs thin, starved [[soil]], and those who could not grow other crops found that they could grow tobacco. Confederate soldiers traded it with each other and Union soldiers, and developed quite a taste for it. At the end of the war, the soldiers went home and a national market had developed for the local crop.
* [[Types of tobacco#Broadleaf|Broadleaf]], a dark tobacco varietal family popular for producing enormous, resilient, and thick wrapper leaves.{{cn|date=July 2024}}
* [[Burley (tobacco)|Burley tobacco]] is an air-cured tobacco used predominantly in [[cigarette]] production, but also in pipe tobacco as a balance to Virginias and other leaves high in sugar content. In the U.S., burley tobacco plants are started from pelletized seeds placed in polystyrene trays floated on a bed of fertilized water in March or April.
* [[Cavendish tobacco|Cavendish]] is more a process of curing and a method of cutting tobacco than a type, but is used to thicken flavors from other tobaccos that might lack a body. The processing and the cut are used to bring out the natural sweet taste in the tobacco. Cavendish can be produced from any tobacco type but is usually one of, or a blend of, Kentucky, Virginia and burley and is most commonly used for pipe tobacco.
* [[Criollo tobacco]] is primarily used in the making of [[cigar]]s. It was by most accounts one of the original Cuban tobaccos that emerged around the time of [[Christopher Columbus|Columbus]].
* [[Dokha]] is a tobacco originally grown in [[Iran]], mixed with leaves, bark and herbs for smoking in a ''[[midwakh]]''.
* [[Perique]] was developed in 1824 through the technique of pressure-fermentation of local tobacco by a farmer, Pierre Chenet. Considered the [[truffle]] of [[smoking pipe (tobacco)|pipe]] tobaccos, it is used as a component in many blended pipe tobaccos but is too strong to be smoked pure. At one time the freshly moist Perique was also chewed, but it is no longer sold for this purpose. It is typically blended with pure Virginia to lend spice, strength and coolness to the blend.
* [[Types of tobacco#Shade tobacco|Shade tobacco]] is cultivated in [[Connecticut]] and [[Massachusetts]]. Early Connecticut [[colonist]]s acquired from the Native Americans the habit of smoking tobacco in pipes, and began cultivating the plant commercially, though the [[Puritans]] referred to it as the "evil weed". The [[Connecticut shade tobacco|Connecticut shade]] industry has weathered some major [[Disaster|catastrophes]], including a devastating [[hail]]storm in 1929 and an epidemic of brown spot fungus in 2000, and is in danger of disappearing altogether, given the increase in the value of land.
* [[Turkish tobacco]] is a sun-cured, highly aromatic, small-leafed variety (''[[Nicotiana tabacum]]'') grown in Turkey, Greece, [[Bulgaria]] and [[North Macedonia]]. Originally grown in regions historically part of the [[Ottoman Empire]], it is also known as "oriental". Many of the early brands of cigarettes were made mostly or entirely of Turkish tobacco. Its main use evolved to be included in blends of pipe and especially cigarette tobacco. (A typical American cigarette is a blend of bright Virginia, burley and Turkish.)
* [[Types of tobacco#White Burley|White burley]] air-cured leaf was found to be milder than other types of tobacco. In 1865 George Webb of [[Brown County, Ohio]], planted red [[Burley (tobacco)|burley]] seeds he had purchased and found a few of the seedlings had a whitish, sickly look, which became white burley.
* [[Types of tobacco#Wild tobacco|Wild tobacco]] is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico and parts of South America. Its botanical name is ''Nicotiana rustica''.

===Parasites===
{{Main|List of tobacco diseases}}

[[File:The tobacco beetle (Page 3) BHL41830187.jpg|thumb|right|230px|Illustration with photographs of [[tobacco leaves]] infested by ''[[Lasioderma serricorne]]'' (tobacco beetles), from Runner, G. A., ''The tobacco beetle'' (1919), Bulletin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, [[Biodiversity Heritage Library]]]]

Tobacco, alongside its [[List of tobacco products|related products]], can be infested by [[Parasitism|parasites]] such as ''[[Lasioderma serricorne]]'' (the tobacco beetle) and ''[[Ephestia elutella]]'' (the tobacco moth), which are the most widespread and damaging parasites to the [[tobacco industry]].<ref name="Ryan 1995">{{cite book |editor-last=Ryan |editor-first=L. |year=1995 |chapter=Introduction |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QzUAI2vK3XMC&pg=PA1 |title=Post-harvest Tobacco Infestation Control |location=[[Norwell, Massachusetts]] and [[Dordrecht]], Netherlands |publisher=[[Kluwer Academic Publishers]] |pages=1–4 |doi=10.1007/978-94-017-2723-5_1 |isbn=978-94-017-2723-5 }}</ref> Infestation can range from the tobacco cultivated in the fields to the [[Tobacco|tobacco leaves]] used for manufacturing [[cigar]]s, [[cigarillo]]s, [[cigarette]]s, etc.<ref name="Ryan 1995"/> Both the [[larvae]] of ''Lasioderma serricorne'' and [[caterpillar]]s of ''Ephestia elutella'' are considered [[Pest (organism)|major pests]].<ref name="Ryan 1995"/>

==Production==
{{More citations needed|date=May 2008}}

===Cultivation===
{{Main|Cultivation of tobacco}}

[[File:Patch of Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum ) in a field in Intercourse, Pennsylvania..jpg|thumb|upright|Tobacco plants growing in a field in [[Intercourse, Pennsylvania|Intercourse]], [[Pennsylvania]]]]

Tobacco is cultivated similarly to other agricultural products. [[Seed]]s were at first quickly scattered onto the soil. However, young plants came under increasing attack from [[flea beetle]]s (''Epitrix cucumeris'' or ''E. pubescens''), which caused destruction of half the tobacco crops in United States in 1876. By 1890, successful experiments were conducted that placed the plant in a frame covered by thin cotton fabric. Modern tobacco seeds are sown in [[cold frame]]s or hotbeds, as their [[germination]] is activated by light.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Garner |first1=W. W. |title=Tobacco Culture |journal=Farmers' Bulletin |date=February 27, 1914 |issue=571 |pages=3–4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_MX4JEAVPi4C&pg=RA21-PA1 |access-date=March 22, 2020 |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture}}</ref> In the United States, tobacco is often fertilized with the mineral [[apatite]], which partially starves the plant of [[Biological role of nitrogen|nitrogen]], to produce a more desired flavor.

After the plants are about {{convert| 8| inch|cm}} tall, they are transplanted into the fields. Farmers used to have to wait for rainy weather to plant.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Yorktown |first1=Mailing Address: P. O. Box 210 |last2=Us |first2=VA 23690 Phone: 757 898-2410 Contact |title=Tobacco: Colonial Cultivation Methods - Historic Jamestowne Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/tobacco-colonial-cultivation-methods.htm |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref> A hole is created in the tilled earth with a tobacco peg, either a curved wooden tool or deer antler. After making two holes to the right and left, the planter would move forward two feet, select plants from his/her bag, and repeat. Various mechanical tobacco planters like Bemis, New Idea Setter, and New Holland [[Transplanter]] were invented in the late 19th and 20th centuries to automate the process: making the hole, watering it, guiding the plant in—all in one motion.<ref>{{cite book|last1=van Willigen|first1=John|last2=Eastwood|first2=Susan|title=Tobacco Culture: Farming Kentucky's Burley Belt|date=2015|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-4808-3|page=91|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JIkfBgAAQBAJ|access-date=February 2, 2018}}</ref>

Tobacco is cultivated annually, and can be [[harvest]]ed in several ways. In the oldest method, still used, the entire plant is harvested at once by cutting off the stalk at the ground with a tobacco knife; it is then speared onto sticks, four to six plants a stick, and hung in a curing barn. In the 19th century, bright tobacco began to be harvested by pulling individual leaves off the stalk as they ripened. The leaves ripen from the ground upwards, so a field of tobacco harvested in this manner entails the serial harvest of a number of "primings", beginning with the ''volado'' leaves near the ground, working to the ''seco'' leaves in the middle of the plant, and finishing with the potent ''[[ligero]]'' leaves at the top. Before harvesting, the crop must be ''topped'' when the pink flowers develop. Topping always refers to the removal of the tobacco flower before the leaves are systematically harvested. As the industrial revolution took hold, the harvesting wagons which were used to transport leaves were equipped with man-powered stringers, an apparatus that used twine to attach leaves to a pole. In modern times, large fields are harvested mechanically, although topping the flower and in some cases the plucking of immature leaves is still done by hand.

In the U.S., [[North Carolina]] and [[Kentucky]] are the leaders in tobacco production, followed by [[Tennessee]], [[Virginia]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[South Carolina]] and [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/|title=USDA/NASS QuickStats Ad-hoc Query Tool|website=quickstats.nass.usda.gov|date=2019|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref>

===Curing===
{{Main|Curing of tobacco}}

[[File:Tobacco barn.JPG|thumb|Tobacco barn in [[Simsbury, Connecticut]] used for air curing of shade tobacco]]
[[File:Tobacco drying iran.jpg|thumb|Sun-cured tobacco, [[Bastam, West Azerbaijan|Bastam]], [[Iran]]]]

Curing and subsequent aging allow for the slow [[oxidation]] and degradation of [[carotenoid]]s in tobacco leaf. This produces certain compounds in the tobacco leaves and gives a sweet hay, [[tea]], [[rose oil]], or fruity aromatic flavor that contributes to the "smoothness" of the smoke. Starch is converted to sugar, which [[glycation|glycates]] protein, which is oxidized into [[advanced glycation endproduct]]s (AGEs), a [[caramelization]] process that also adds flavor. Inhalation of these AGEs in tobacco smoke contributes to [[atherosclerosis]] and [[cancer]].<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Cerami C, Founds H, Nicholl I, Mitsuhashi T, Giordano D, Vanpatten S, Lee A, Al-Abed Y, Vlassara H, Bucala R, Cerami A |title=Tobacco smoke is a source of toxic reactive glycation products|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=94|issue=25|year=1997|pages=13915–20|doi=10.1073/pnas.94.25.13915|pmid=9391127|pmc=28407|bibcode=1997PNAS...9413915C|doi-access=free}}</ref> Levels of AGEs are dependent on the curing method used.

Tobacco can be cured through several methods, including:
* '''[[Curing of tobacco#Air|Air-cured]]''' tobacco is hung in well-ventilated barns and allowed to dry over a period of four to eight weeks. Air-cured tobacco is low in sugar, which gives the tobacco smoke a light, mild flavor, and high in nicotine. Cigar and burley tobaccos are 'dark' air-cured.<ref>"tobacco curing." The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide. Abington: Helicon, 2010. Credo Reference. Web. September 26, 2012.</ref>
* '''[[Curing of tobacco#Fire|Fire-cured]]''' tobacco is hung in large barns where fires of hardwoods are kept on continuous or intermittent low smoulder, and takes between three days and ten weeks, depending on the process and the tobacco. Fire curing produces a tobacco low in sugar and high in nicotine. Pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff are fire-cured.
* '''[[Curing of tobacco#Flue|Flue-cured]]''' tobacco was originally strung onto tobacco sticks, which were hung from tier poles in curing barns (Aus: [[kiln]]s, also traditionally called 'oasts'). These barns have flues run from externally fed fire boxes, heat-curing the tobacco without exposing it to smoke, slowly raising the temperature over the course of the curing. The process generally takes about a week. This method produces cigarette tobacco that is high in sugar and has medium to high levels of nicotine. Most cigarettes incorporate flue-cured tobacco, which produces a milder, more inhalable smoke. It is estimated that 1 tree is cut to flue-cure every 300 cigarettes, resulting in serious environmental consequences.<ref name="who env effects"/>
* '''[[Curing of tobacco#Sun|Sun-cured]]''' tobacco dries uncovered in the sun. This method is used in Turkey, Greece, and other Mediterranean countries to produce oriental tobacco. Sun-cured tobacco is low in sugar and nicotine and is used in cigarettes.

Some tobaccos go through a second stage of curing, known as ''[[Fermentation (food)|fermenting]]'' or ''sweating''.{{cn|date=July 2024}} [[Cavendish Tobacco|Cavendish]] undergoes fermentation pressed in a ''casing'' solution containing sugar and/or flavoring.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

===Global production===
{{owidslider
|start        = 2023
|list         = Template:OWID/tobacco production#gallery
|location      = commons
|caption      =
|title        =
|language     =
|file         = [[File:tobacco production, World, 2023 (cropped).svg|link=|thumb|upright=1.6|Tobacco production]]
|startingView = World
}}
====Trends====
[[File:Preparando o tabaco em Balibó.jpg|thumb|Tobacco production in [[Portuguese Timor]] in the 1930s]]
Production of tobacco leaf increased by 40% between 1971, when 4.2&nbsp;million tons of leaf were produced, and 1997, when 5.9&nbsp;million tons of leaf were produced.<ref name="United Nations 2010">Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ''Projection of tobacco production, consumption and trade for the year 2010.'' (Rome, 2003).</ref> According to the [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] (FAO) of the United Nations, tobacco leaf production was expected to hit 7.1&nbsp;million tons by 2010. This number is a bit lower than the record-high production of 1992, when 7.5&nbsp;million tons of leaf were produced.<ref name="United Nations 2004">The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ''Higher World Tobacco use expected by 2010-growth rates slowing down.'' (Rome, 2004).</ref> The production growth was almost entirely due to increased productivity by developing nations, where production increased by 128%.<ref name="JhaChaloupka2000">{{cite book |editor1=Prabhat Jha |editor2=Frank J. Chaloupka |author1=Rowena Jacobs |display-authors=etal |title=Tobacco Control in Developing Countries |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UTO8AAAAIAAJ&q=supply-side |year=2000 |chapter=The Supply-Side Effects Of Tobacco Control Policies |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-263250-0 |pages=311ff}}</ref> During that same time, production in developed countries actually decreased.<ref name="United Nations 2004"/> China's increase in tobacco production was the single biggest factor in the increase in world production. China's share of the world market increased from 17% in 1971 to 47% in 1997.<ref name="United Nations 2010"/> This growth can be partially explained by the existence of a low import tariff on foreign tobacco entering China. While this tariff was reduced from 66% in 1999 to 10% in 2004,<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Hu |first1 = T-W |last2 = Mao |first2 = Z |display-authors=etal |year=2006 |title = China at the Crossroads: The Economics of Tobacco and Health |journal = Tobacco Control |volume = 15 |issue = Suppl 1 |pages = i37–i41 |doi=10.1136/tc.2005.014621 |pmc = 2563551 |pmid=16723674}}</ref> it has still led to local Chinese cigarettes being preferred over foreign cigarettes because of their lower cost.

====Major producers====
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin: 0 0 0.5em 1em"
! colspan=3|Top tobacco producers, 2020<ref name="FAOSTAT">{{cite web|title=FAOSTAT|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC/visualize|publisher=Food And Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|access-date=May 17, 2020}}</ref>
|-
! Country
! Production ([[tonne]]s)
! <small>Note</small>
|-
| {{flag|China}}||align=right|2,134,000||
|-
| {{flag|India}}||align=right|761,335||
|-
| {{flag|Brazil}}||align=right|702,208||'''F'''
|-
| {{flag|Zimbabwe}}||align=right|203,488||
|-
| {{flag|Indonesia}}||align=right|199,737||'''F'''
|-
| {{flag|United States}}||align=right|176,635||
|-
| {{flag|Mozambique}}||align=right|158,532||'''F'''
|-
| {{flag|Pakistan}}||align=right|132,872||'''F'''
|-
| {{flag|Argentina}}||align=right|109,333||
|-
| {{flag|Malawi}}||align=right|93,613||'''F'''

|- style="background:#ccc;"
| {{noflag}}'''World'''||align=right| '''5,886,147'''||'''A'''
|-
|colspan=5 style="font-size:.7em"|No note = official figure, F = [[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]] Estimate, A = Aggregate (may include official, semiofficial or estimates).
|}

Every year, about 5.9&nbsp;million tons of tobacco are produced. Top producers are China (36.3%), India (12.9%), Brazil (11.9%) and Zimbabwe (3.5%).<ref name="FAOSTAT"/>

====China====
Around the peak of global tobacco production, 20 million rural Chinese households were producing tobacco on 2.1&nbsp;million hectares of land.<ref name="issues in global economy"/> While it is the major crop for millions of Chinese farmers, growing tobacco is not as profitable as cotton or sugarcane, because the Chinese government sets the market price. While this price is guaranteed, it is lower than the natural market price, because of the lack of market risk. To further control tobacco in their borders, China founded a [[State Tobacco Monopoly Administration]] (STMA) in 1982. The STMA controls tobacco production, marketing, imports, and exports, and contributes 12% to the nation's national income.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.cn/english/2005-10/03/content_74295.htm |title=People's Republic of China. "''State Tobacco Monopoly Administration'' |publisher=Gov.cn |date=September 15, 2005 |access-date=October 3, 2013 |archive-date=August 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810034314/http://www.gov.cn/english/2005-10/03/content_74295.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> As noted above, despite the income generated for the state by profits from state-owned tobacco companies and the taxes paid by companies and retailers, China's government has acted to reduce tobacco use.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 6, 2010 |title=Talking Points, February 3–17, 2010 |url=https://china.usc.edu/talking-points-february-3-17-2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407203139/https://china.usc.edu/talking-points-february-3-17-2010 |archive-date=April 7, 2015 |publisher=[[University of Southern California|USC]] U.S.-China Institute}}</ref>

====India====
India's Tobacco Board is headquartered in [[Guntur]] in the state of [[Andhra Pradesh]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tobaccoboard.com/ |title=Tobacco Board, Guntur |publisher=Tobaccoboard.com |access-date=April 21, 2014}}</ref> India has 96,865 registered tobacco farmers<ref name="Shoba 2002">Shoba, John and Shailesh Vaite. Tobacco and Poverty: Observations from India and Bangladesh. Canada, 2002.</ref> and many more who are not registered. In 2010, 3,120 tobacco product manufacturing facilities were operating in all of India.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://india.anythingresearch.com/Tobacco-Product-Manufacturing.html|title=Tobacco Manufacturing in India}}</ref> Around 0.25% of India's cultivated land is used for tobacco production.<ref name="issues in global economy"/>

Since 1947, the [[Indian government]] has supported growth in the tobacco industry. India has seven tobacco research centers, located in [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Bihar]], [[Mysore]], and [[West Bengal]] which houses the core research institute.

====Brazil====
In Brazil, around 135,000 family farmers cite tobacco production as their main economic activity.<ref name="issues in global economy"/> Tobacco has never exceeded 0.7% of the country's total cultivated area.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite book|last1=International Tobacco Growers' Association|title=Tobacco farming: sustainable alternatives? Volume 2|date=n.d.|publisher=ITGA|location=East Sussex|isbn=978-1-872854-02-1|url=http://www.tobaccoleaf.org/UserFiles/file/Why_Grow_Tobacco/tobacco_farming.pdf|access-date=July 5, 2016|archive-date=April 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429032528/http://tobaccoleaf.org/UserFiles/file/Why_Grow_Tobacco/tobacco_farming.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the southern regions of Brazil, Virginia, and Amarelinho, flue-cured tobacco, as well as burley and Galpão Comum air-cured tobacco, are produced. These types of tobacco are used for cigarettes. In the northeast, darker, air- and sun-cured tobacco is grown. These types of tobacco are used for cigars, twists, and dark cigarettes.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> Brazil's government has made attempts to reduce the production of tobacco but has not had a successful systematic antitobacco farming initiative. Brazil's government, however, provides small loans for family farms, including those that grow tobacco, through the ''Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar''.<ref name="brazil legal employ">{{cite web |title=Report from South America (Brazil) |url=http://legalempowerment.undp.org/pdf/SouthAmerica_report.pdf |publisher=[[Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor]] |access-date=October 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609101410/http://legalempowerment.undp.org/pdf/SouthAmerica_report.pdf |archive-date=June 9, 2007 |date=2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Lebanon ====
Although only being the 35th biggest tobacco producer in 2023, the crop plays an important role in parts of [[Lebanon]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top 50 tobacco growing countries |url=https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-no-tobacco-day/2023/top-50-tobacco-growing-countries |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=www.who.int |language=en}}</ref> The cultivation of tobacco in Lebanon dates back to the 17th century and today the crop is grown by all religious sects.<ref name=":1" /> In the southern parts of the country, the plant's resilience in difficult conditions—including the climate, the mountainous geography, and recurring wars—makes it an important source of income.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Khayyat |first=Munira |title=A Landscape of War |date=2022 |publisher=University of California Press |pages=92–125}}</ref> The role of tobacco in the region is twofold. On the one hand, it is called the "crop of resistance" as it allows the population to navigate the consequences of a decades-long violent conflict and a certain degree of detachment, making it a symbol of hope, resistance, and resilience.<ref name=":1" /> On the other hand, the hard conditions of tobacco farming also made it the "bitter crop," as the farming is often times done by women and children without professional equipment.<ref name=":1" /> According to Munira Khayyat, tobacco production in the southern parts of Lebanon, like many other sectors where the state is absent (e.g. health care, employment, education), is overseen by [[Hezbollah]] and, though to a minor degree, also by [[Amal Movement|AMAL]].<ref name=":1" />

[[File:Tobacco field cuba1.jpg|thumb|Tobacco plantation, [[Pinar del Río]], Cuba]]

===Problems in production===

====Child labor====
{{main|Child labor}}

The International Labour Office reported that the most child-laborers work in agriculture, which is one of the most hazardous types of work.<ref name="hrw child labor">{{Cite book |last1=Wurth |first1=Margaret |last2=Buchanan |first2=Jane |date=May 13, 2014 |editor-last=Becker |editor-first=Jo |editor2-last=Ross |editor2-first=James |editor3-last=Olugboji |editor3-first=Babatunde |others=Joe Amon, Zama Coursen-Neff, Arvind Ganesan, Grace Meng |title=Tobacco's Hidden Children Hazardous Child Labor in United States Tobacco Farming |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/05/13/tobaccos-hidden-children/hazardous-child-labor-united-states-tobacco-farming |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806091253/https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/05/13/tobaccos-hidden-children/hazardous-child-labor-united-states-tobacco-farming |archive-date=August 6, 2015 |access-date=October 6, 2022 |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |isbn=978-1-62313-134-0 |oclc=881428758}}</ref> The tobacco industry houses some of these working children. Use of children is widespread on farms in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.unicef.org/media/84761/file/SOWC-1997.pdf |title=The State of the World's Children 1997 |last=[[UNICEF]] |date=1997 |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-262871-8 |oclc=36286998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609190750/https://www.unicef.org/media/84761/file/SOWC-1997.pdf |archive-date=June 9, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite report |url=https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/78394/ChildLaborSweatandToil2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |title=By the Sweat and Toil of Children. Volume 2. The Use of Child Labor in U.S. Agricultural Imports & Forced and Bonded Child Labor : A Report to the Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Congress |last1=Jaffe |first1=Maureen E. |last2=Mills |first2=Monica |date=1995 |publisher=International Child Labor Study Group, [[Bureau of International Labor Affairs]], [[United States Department of Labor|Department of Labor]] |location=Washington, D.C. |last3=Rosen |first3=Sonia A. |last4=Shepard |first4=Robert B. |last5=Slavet |first5=Beth |last6=Samet |first6=Andrew J. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006221232/https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/78394/ChildLaborSweatandToil2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=October 6, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite report |url=http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/1997/97B09_232_engl.pdf |title=Bitter Harvest, Child Labour in Agriculture |date=1997 |publisher=[[International Labour Organization]] |location=Geneva |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006222138/http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/1997/97B09_232_engl.pdf |archive-date=October 6, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite conference |last1=Bosch |first1=Dawie |last2=Gordon |first2=Adele |date=August 27–30, 1996 |title=Child Labour in Commercial Agriculture in Africa (Working paper number 3) |publisher=[[International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour]], [[International Labour Organization]] |conference=Subregional technical workshop on child labour in commercial agriculture for selected English-speaking African countries |location=Dar es Salaam, Tanzania |isbn=978-92-2-110485-8 |oclc=36763053}}</ref> While some of these children work with their families on small, family-owned farms, others work on large plantations.
In late 2009, reports were released by the London-based human-rights group [[Plan International]], claiming that child labor was common on Malawi (producer of 1.8% of the world's tobacco<ref name="United Nations 2010"/>) tobacco farms. The organization interviewed 44 teens, who worked full-time on farms during the 2007–08 growing season. The child-laborers complained of low pay and long hours, as well as physical and sexual abuse by their supervisors.<ref name="malawi child">{{Cite web |last=Clacherty |first=Glynis |date=2009 |title=Hard work, long hours and little pay: Research with children working on tobacco farms in Malawi |url=https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/pdf/3809.pdf/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006212811/https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/pdf/3809.pdf/ |archive-date=October 6, 2022 |publisher=[[Plan International]], Clacherty & Associates Education and Social Development (Pty) Ltd}}</ref> They also reported experiencing [[green tobacco sickness]], a form of nicotine poisoning. When wet leaves are handled, nicotine from the leaves gets absorbed in the skin and causes nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. Children were exposed to levels of nicotine equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes, just through direct contact with tobacco leaves.<ref name="malawi child"/> The [[effects of nicotine on human brain development]] in children can permanently alter brain structure and function.<ref name=England2015>{{cite journal |last1=England |first1=Lucinda J. |last2=Bunnell |first2=Rebecca E. |last3=Pechacek |first3=Terry F. |last4=Tong |first4=Van T. |last5=McAfee |first5=Tim A. |title=Nicotine and the Developing Human |journal=American Journal of Preventive Medicine |date=August 2015 |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=286–293 |doi=10.1016/j.amepre.2015.01.015 |pmc=4594223 |pmid=25794473 }}</ref>

====Economy====
[[File:MRO Cuba Harvest 01.jpg|thumb|Tobacco harvesting, [[Viñales Valley]], Cuba]]
Major tobacco companies have encouraged global tobacco production. [[Altria Group|Philip Morris]], [[British American Tobacco]], and [[Japan Tobacco]] each own or lease tobacco-manufacturing facilities in at least 50 countries and buy crude tobacco leaf from at least 12 more countries.<ref>"International Cigarette Manufacturers," Tobacco Reporter, March 2001</ref> This encouragement, along with government subsidies, has led to a glut in the tobacco market. This surplus has resulted in lower prices, which are devastating to small-scale tobacco farmers. According to the World Bank, between 1985 and 2000, the inflation-adjusted price of tobacco dropped 37%.<ref>{{cite web |title=Golden Leaf, Barren Harvest: The Costs of Tobacco Farming |url=http://www.ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_330.pdf |author=The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids |date=November 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406112907/http://www.ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_330.pdf |archive-date=April 6, 2013}}</ref> Tobacco is the most widely [[smuggling|smuggled]] legal product.<ref name=ICLJTU>{{cite news |title=Tobacco Underground |url=http://www.icij.org/project/tobacco-underground |access-date=November 26, 2012 |newspaper=The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists}}</ref>

====Environment====
Tobacco production requires the use of large amounts of [[pesticide]]s. Tobacco companies recommend up to 16 separate applications of pesticides just in the period between planting the seeds in greenhouses and transplanting the young plants to the field.<ref name="Taylor, Peter 1994">{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Peter|title=Smoke Ring: The Politics of Tobacco|publisher=Panos Briefing Paper|location=London|date=September 1994}}</ref> Pesticide use has been worsened by the desire to produce larger crops in less time because of the decreasing market value of tobacco. Pesticides often harm tobacco farmers because they are unaware of the health effects and the proper safety protocol for working with pesticides. These pesticides, as well as fertilizers, end up in the soil, waterways, and the food chain.<ref>{{cite book|title=FAO Yearbook, Production, Volume 48|year=1995}}</ref> Coupled with child labor, pesticides pose an even greater threat. Early exposure to pesticides may increase a child's lifelong cancer risk, as well as harm their nervous and immune systems.<ref>{{Cite book |last=National Research Council (US) Committee on Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236276/ |title=Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children |date=1993 |publisher=[[National Academies Press]] |isbn=978-0-309-04875-0 |location=Washington, D.C. |page=341 |chapter=Chapter 8 Estimating the Risks |doi=10.17226/2126 |pmid=25144038 |bibcode=1993nap..book.2126N |oclc=42329648}}</ref>

As with all crops, tobacco crops extract nutrients (such as [[phosphorus]], [[nitrogen]], and [[potassium]]) from soil, decreasing its fertility.<ref name=wwf.panda>{{cite web|title=Tobacco Free Initiative: Environmental issues|url=https://www.who.int/tobacco/research/economics/rationale/environment/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041219191401/http://www.who.int/tobacco/research/economics/rationale/environment/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 19, 2004|author=World Health Organization}}</ref>

Furthermore, the wood used to cure tobacco in some places leads to deforestation. While some big tobacco producers such as China and the United States have access to petroleum, coal, and natural gas, which can be used as alternatives to wood, most developing countries still rely on wood in the curing process.<ref name="wwf.panda"/> Brazil alone uses the wood of 60 million trees per year for curing, packaging, and rolling cigarettes.<ref name="Taylor, Peter 1994"/>

In 2017 WHO released a study on the environmental effects of tobacco.<ref name="who env effects">{{Cite book |last=World Health Organization |url=https://www.who.int/tobacco/publications/environmental-impact-overview/en/ |title=Tobacco and its Environmental Impact: An Overview |date=2017 |publisher=World Health Organization |isbn=978-92-4-151249-7 |oclc=988541317 |author-link=World Health Organization |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531164632/http://www.who.int/tobacco/publications/environmental-impact-overview/en/ |archive-date=May 31, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Research===
Several tobacco plants have been used as [[model organism]]s in [[genetics]]. [[Tobacco BY-2 cells]], derived from ''N. tabacum'' [[cultivar]] 'Bright Yellow-2', are among the most important research tools in plant [[cell biology|cytology]].<ref>{{cite journal | author = Ganapathi TR |display-authors=etal | year = 2004 | title = Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) – A model system for tissue culture interventions and genetic engineering | url = http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/7722/1/IJBT%203(2)%20171-184.pdf | journal = Indian Journal of Biotechnology | volume = 3 | pages = 171–184 }}</ref> Tobacco has played a pioneering role in [[Callus (cell biology)|callus]] culture research and the elucidation of the mechanism by which [[kinetin]] works, laying the groundwork for modern agricultural [[biotechnology]]. The first genetically modified plant was produced in 1982, using ''[[Agrobacterium tumefaciens]]'' to create an antibiotic-resistant tobacco plant.<ref name="PNAS">{{cite journal | author = Fraley RT |display-authors=etal | year = 1983 | title = Expression of bacterial genes in plant cells | journal = Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. | volume = 80 | issue = 15| pages = 4803–4807 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.80.15.4803 |pmid=6308651 | bibcode=1983PNAS...80.4803F| pmc = 384133 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This research laid the groundwork for all [[genetically modified crops]].<ref name=TransgenicScience>{{cite web |url=http://www.cottoncrc.org.au/communities/Cotton_Info/The_Science_behind_Transgenic_cotton |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321224120/http://www.cottoncrc.org.au/communities/Cotton_Info/The_Science_behind_Transgenic_cotton |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 21, 2012 |title=Science of Transgenic Cotton |publisher=Cottoncrc.org.au |access-date=October 3, 2013 }}</ref>

===Genetic modification===
Because of its importance as a research tool, transgenic tobacco was the first genetically modified (GM) crop to be tested in field trials, in the United States and France in 1986; China became the first country in the world to approve commercial planting of a GM crop in 1993, which was tobacco.<ref name="James 1996">{{cite web|last=James|first=Clive|title=Global Review of the Field Testing and Commercialization of Transgenic Plants: 1986 to 1995|url=http://www.isaaa.org/kc/Publications/pdfs/isaaabriefs/Briefs%201.pdf|publisher=The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications|access-date=July 17, 2010|year=1996}}</ref>

====Field trials====
Many varieties of transgenic tobacco have been intensively tested in field trials. Agronomic traits such as resistance to pathogens (viruses, particularly to the [[tobacco mosaic virus]] (TMV); fungi; bacteria and nematodes); weed management via herbicide tolerance; resistance against insect pests; resistance to drought and cold; and production of useful products such as pharmaceuticals; and use of GM plants for [[bioremediation]], have all been tested in over 400 field trials using tobacco.<ref name=GMOCompass>{{cite web |url=http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/database/plants/304.tobacco.html |title=Tobacco |publisher=GMO Compass |access-date=October 3, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002090217/http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/database/plants/304.tobacco.html |archive-date=October 2, 2013}}</ref>

====Production====
Currently, only the US is producing GM tobacco.<ref name="James 1996" /><ref name=GMOCompass /> The Chinese virus-resistant tobacco was withdrawn from the market in China in 1997.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Conner AJ, Glare TR, Nap JP |date=January 2003 |title=The release of genetically modified crops into the environment. Part II. Overview of ecological risk assessment |journal=Plant J. |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=19–46 |pmid=12943539 |doi=10.1046/j.0960-7412.2002.001607.x |doi-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|3}} From 2002 to 2010, cigarettes made with GM tobacco with reduced nicotine content were available in the US under the market name Quest.<ref name=GMOCompass /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ritarubin/2017/08/14/if-you-took-the-nicotine-out-of-cigarettes-would-fewer-people-want-to-smoke/|title=If You Took The Nicotine Out Of Cigarettes, Would Fewer People Want To Smoke?|last=Rubin|first=Rita|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=May 3, 2019}}</ref>

==Consumption==
{{Further|Tobacco products}}
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2021}}
Tobacco is consumed in many forms and through a number of different methods. 

===Anogenital===
Anogenital usage refers to the use of tobacco in [[Sex organ|genitals]] and the [[rectum]]. 
* In [[Northern Europe]], people place tobacco pouches under their [[Foreskin|foreskins]] and into their [[Rectum|rectums]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Geiger |first=Gabriel |date=2021-09-21 |title=Young Scandinavians Are Sticking Nicotine Pouches Up Their Asses |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/young-scandinavians-are-sticking-nicotine-pouches-up-their-asses/ |access-date=2026-01-01 |website=VICE |language=en-US}}</ref> 
* '''Taba''' is a form of tobacco placed in a woman's vagina in West Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jawo |first=Kaddy |title=‘I nearly died’: Taba, the tobacco drug Gambian women share in secret |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/3/19/i-nearly-died-taba-the-tobacco-drug-the-gambian-women-share-in-secret |access-date=2026-01-01 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> 
* '''[[Tobacco smoke enema]]s''' were employed by the [[indigenous peoples of the Americas#North America|indigenous peoples of North America]] to stimulate respiration, injecting the smoke with a rectal tube.<ref>{{Citation |last1 = Hurt |first1 = Raymond |last2 = Barry |first2 = J. E. |last3 = Adams |first3 = A. P. |last4 = Fleming |first4 = P. R. |title = The History of Cardiothoracic Surgery from Early Times |publisher = Informa Health Care |page=120 |year = 1996 |isbn = 978-1-85070-681-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ShLvi_kRQtQC}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |doi = 10.2307/2843888 |last = Nordenskiold |first = Erland |title = The American Indian as an Inventor |jstor = 2843888 |journal = Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute |volume = 59 |page=277 |year = 1929}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Hurt|Barry|Adams|Fleming|1996|p=120}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Nordenskiold|1929|p=277}}</ref> Later, in the 18th century, Europeans emulated the Americans.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bcmj.org/special-feature/special-feature-tobacco-smoke-enemas |title=Special feature: Tobacco smoke enemas |author=Sterling Haynes, MD |date=December 2012 |work=British Columbia Medical Journal |publisher=Doctors of BC |access-date=March 29, 2019 }}</ref> Tobacco resuscitation kits consisting of a pair of bellows and a tube were provided by the Royal Humane Society of London and placed at various points along the Thames.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.rpharms.com/museum-pdfs/21-enemas.pdf |title = Information Sheet:21 Enemas |website = Information Sheets |publisher = Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, London |access-date=July 26, 2014}}</ref>

===Buccal===
Buccal usage refers to the use of tobacco in the mouth. 
* '''[[Chewing tobacco]]''' is the oldest way of consuming tobacco leaves. It is consumed orally, in two forms: through sweetened strands ("chew" or "chaw"), or in a shredded form ("dip"). When consuming the long, sweetened strands, the tobacco is lightly chewed and compacted into a ball. When consuming the shredded tobacco, small amounts are placed inside the bottom lip, between the gum and the teeth, where it is gently compacted, thus it is often called dipping tobacco. Both methods stimulate the salivary glands, which led to the development of the [[spittoon]].
* '''[[Creamy snuff]]''' is tobacco paste, consisting of tobacco, clove oil, glycerin, spearmint, menthol, and camphor, and sold in a toothpaste tube. It is marketed mainly to women in India and is known by the brand names Ipco (made by Asha Industries), Denobac, Tona, and Ganesh. It is locally known as ''mishri'' in some parts of Maharashtra.
* '''[[Dipping tobacco]]s''' are a form of [[smokeless tobacco]]. Dip is occasionally referred to as "chew", and because of this it is commonly confused with [[chewing tobacco]], which encompasses a wider range of products. A small clump of dip is 'pinched' out of the tin and placed between the lower or upper lip and gums. Some brands, as with snus, are portioned in small, porous pouches for less mess.
* '''[[Gutka]]''' is a preparation of crushed betel nut, tobacco, and sweet or savory flavorings. It is manufactured in India and exported to a few other countries. A mild stimulant, it is sold across India in small, individual-sized packets.
* '''[[Kreteks]]''' are cigarettes made with a complex blend of tobacco, cloves, and a flavoring "sauce". They were first introduced in the 1880s in Kudus, Java, to deliver the medicinal [[eugenol]] of cloves to the lungs.
* '''[[Pituri]]''', a nicotine-containing substance traditionally made from Australian tobacco plants, used by Indigenous Australians for chewing and placed between the lower or upper lip and gums.
* '''[[Snus]]''' is a steam-pasteurized moist powdered tobacco product that is not fermented and induces minimal salivation. It is consumed by placing it (loose or in little pouches) against the upper gums for an extended period of time. It is somewhat similar to dipping tobacco but does not require spitting and is significantly lower in [[Tobacco-specific nitrosamines|TSNA]]s.
* '''Tobacco chewing gum''' A gum containing nicotine or tobacco designed to be chewed.
* '''Tobacco edibles''', often in the form of an infusion or a spice, have gained popularity in recent years.
* '''[[Tobacco water]]''' is a traditional [[organic farming|organic]] [[insecticide]] used in domestic [[gardening]]. Tobacco dust can be used similarly. It is produced by boiling strong tobacco in water, or by steeping the tobacco in water for a longer period. When cooled, the mixture can be applied as a spray, or painted onto the leaves of garden plants, where it kills insects. Tobacco is, however, banned from use as a pesticide in certified organic production by the USDA's [[National Organic Program]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.omri.org/simple-gml-search/results?page=18 |title=Generic Materials Search &#124; Organic Materials Review Institute |publisher=Omri.org |access-date=October 3, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723072126/http://www.omri.org/simple-gml-search/results?page=18 |archive-date=July 23, 2015}}</ref>

=== Inhalation ===
* '''[[Betel quid]]''' refers to a mixture of [[areca nut]], tobacco, and flavouring ingredients wrapped within a [[Betel|betel leaf]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Humans |first=IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to |title=Betel-quid and Areca-nut Chewing |date=2004 |work=Betel-quid and Areca-nut Chewing and Some Areca-nut-derived Nitrosamines |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK316574/ |access-date=2026-01-01 |publisher=International Agency for Research on Cancer |language=en}}</ref> 
* '''[[Beedi]]''' (also known as bidis or biris) are thin, often flavoured cigarettes from India made of tobacco wrapped in a [[Diospyros melanoxylon|tendu]] leaf, and secured with coloured thread at one end.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tobacco Free Kids |date=2008 |title=Bidis: An Overview |url=https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/assets/global/pdfs/en/IW_facts_products_bidis_overview.pdf |access-date=October 27, 2021 |website=Tobacco Free Kids}}</ref>
* '''[[Cigarette]]s''' are a product consumed through inhalation of smoke and manufactured from cured and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco, often combined with other additives, then rolled into a paper cylinder.
* '''[[Cigar]]s''' are tightly rolled bundles of dried and fermented tobacco, which are ignited so their smoke may be drawn into the smokers' mouths.
* '''[[Dokha]]''' is a middle eastern tobacco with high nicotine levels grown in parts of Oman and Hatta, which is smoked through a thin pipe called a medwakh. It is a form of tobacco which is dried up and ground and contains little to no additives excluding spices, fruits, or flowers to enhance smell and flavor.
* '''[[Heat-not-burn product]]s''' heat rather than burn tobacco to generate an aerosol that contains nicotine.
* '''[[Hookah]]''' is a single- or multistemmed (often glass-based) water pipe for smoking. Hookahs were first used in India and Persia;<ref>American Lung Association. February 2007 [http://www.lungusa2.org/embargo/slati/Trendalert_Waterpipes.pdf An Emerging Deadly Trend: Waterpipe Tobacco Use] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102171735/http://www.lungusa2.org/embargo/slati/Trendalert_Waterpipes.pdf|date=January 2, 2014}}</ref> the hookah has gained immense popularity, especially in the Middle East. A hookah operates by water filtration and indirect heat. It can be used for smoking herbal fruits or [[moassel]], a mixture of tobacco, flavouring, and [[honey]] or [[glycerin]].
* '''[[Roll-your-own]]''', often called 'rollies' or 'roll-ups', are relatively popular in some European countries. These are prepared from loose tobacco, cigarette papers, and filters all bought separately. They are usually cheaper to make.
* '''[[Tobacco pipe]]s''' typically consist of a small chamber (the bowl) for the combustion of the tobacco to be smoked and a thin stem (shank) that ends in a mouthpiece (the bit). Shredded pieces of tobacco are placed in the chamber and ignited.

===Nasal===
* '''[[Snuff (tobacco)|Snuff]]''' is a ground smokeless tobacco product, inhaled or ‘snuffed’ through the nose. If referring specifically to the orally consumed moist snuff, see [[dipping tobacco]].

=== Topical ===
* '''[[Topical tobacco paste]]''' is sometimes used as a treatment for [[wasp]], [[hornet]], [[fire ant]], [[scorpion]], and [[bee sting]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/c782-w.html |first=Beverly |last=Sparks |title=Stinging and Biting Pests of People |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214061028/http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/c782-w.html |archive-date=February 14, 2007}} Extension Entomologist of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Cooperative Extension Service.</ref> An amount equivalent to the contents of a cigarette is mashed in a cup with about a half a teaspoon of water to make a paste that is then applied to the affected area.

==Influence==

===Social===
Smoking in public was, for a long time, reserved for men, and smoking by women was sometimes associated with [[promiscuity]]; in Japan, during the [[Edo period]], prostitutes and their clients often approached one another under the guise of offering a smoke. The same was true in 19th-century Europe.{{sfn|Gilman|Zhou|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mM5bYb_uVcwC&pg=PA92 92–99]}}

Following the [[American Civil War]], the use of tobacco, primarily in cigars, became associated with [[masculinity]] and power. Modern tobacco use has often been stigmatized; this has spawned quitting associations and antismoking campaigns.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Durkin |first1=Sarah |last2=Brennan |first2=Emily |last3=Wakefield |first3=Melanie |author-link3=Melanie Wakefield |year=2012 |title=Mass media campaigns to promote smoking cessation among adults: an integrative review |url=http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/tobaccocontrol/21/2/127.full.pdf |journal=Tobacco Control |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=127–138 |doi=10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2011-050345 |pmid=22345235 |s2cid=3053297|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Mullin Sandra |year=2011 |title=Global anti-smoking campaigns urgently needed |journal=The Lancet |volume=378 |issue=9795 |pages=970–971 |doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(11)61058-1 |pmid=21741699 |s2cid=7532790}}</ref> [[Bhutan]] is the only country in the world where tobacco sales are illegal.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2005/01/the-first-nonsmoking-nation.html |title=The First Nonsmoking Nation |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate.com]] |first=Eric |last=Weiner |date=January 20, 2005 |access-date=October 23, 2019}}</ref> Due to its propensity for causing [[detumescence]] and erectile dysfunction, some studies have described tobacco as an anaphrodisiacal substance.<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=28723353 |year=2015 |last1=Verze |first1=P. |title=The Link Between Cigarette Smoking and Erectile Dysfunction: A Systematic Review |journal=European Urology Focus |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=39–46 |last2=Margreiter |first2=M. |last3=Esposito |first3=K. |last4=Montorsi |first4=P. |last5=Mulhall |first5=J. |doi=10.1016/j.euf.2015.01.003}}</ref>

===Religion===
{{Further|Religious views on smoking}}
====Christianity====
In [[Christian denomination]]s of the [[conservative holiness movement]], such as the [[Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection]] and [[Evangelical Wesleyan Church]], the use of tobacco and other drugs is prohibited;<ref name="AWMC2014">{{cite book|title=The Discipline of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (Original Allegheny Conference)|year=2014|publisher=[[Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection]]|location=[[Salem, Ohio|Salem]]|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|37}} ¶42 of the 2014 [[Book of Discipline (United Methodist)|Book of Discipline]] of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection states:<ref name="AWMC2014" />{{page needed|date=March 2021}}
{{quotation|In the judgment of The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (Original Allegheny Conference), the use of tobacco is a great evil, unbecoming a Christian, a waste of the Lord's money, and a defilement of the body, which should be the temple of the Holy Ghost. We do, therefore, most earnestly require our members to refrain from its cultivation, manufacture, and sale, and to abstain from its use in all forms, for Jesus' sake. We will not receive as members into our churches nor will we ordain or license to preach or to exhort, persons who use, cultivate, manufacture, or sell tobacco. Using tobacco by a member of a church or of the Conference after being received from this date (June 28, 1927) is a violation of the law of the church, and the offending party should be dealt with according to the judiciary rules.<ref name="AWMC2014" />{{rp|44}}}}
Members of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (popularly known as [[Mormons]]) adhere to the [[Word of Wisdom (Latter Day Saints)|Word of Wisdom]], a religious health code that is interpreted as prohibiting the consumption of tobacco as well as [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]], coffee, and tea.<ref>{{cite news |last=Stack |first=Peggy Fletcher |author-link=Peggy Fletcher Stack |date=August 31, 2012 |title=It's Official: Coke and Pepsi are OK for Mormons |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |agency=([[Religion News Service]]) |url=https://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-08-31/national/35492011_1_drink-caffeine-lds-leaders-mormons |url-status=dead |access-date=September 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327204542/http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-08-31/national/35492011_1_drink-caffeine-lds-leaders-mormons |archive-date=March 27, 2013}}.</ref>

====Islam====
{{Main|Islamic views on tobacco}}

Most Islamic scholars have condemned tobacco due to its harmful effects on health and most Islamic sects prohibit its use. The earliest [[fatwa]] (religious opinion) against tobacco use dates from 1602. While tobacco is not mentioned in the Quran because it did not exist in the Eastern Hemisphere during [[Muhammad|Muhammad's]] time, the Quran instructs Muslims to live healthy lives, which does not align with tobacco usage.

====Sikhism====
{{Further|Prohibitions in Sikhism}}
[[Sikhism]], a Dharmic religion from India, considers tobacco consumption as taboo and deeply harmful for health and spirituality. Initiated [[Sikhs]] never consume tobacco in any form.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dhillon|first=Bikramjit Singh|date=n.d.|title=Sikhs and Smoking|url=https://www.sikhs.org/art9.htm}}</ref>

===Demographics===
{{Main|Prevalence of tobacco consumption}}

Research on tobacco use is limited mainly to smoking, which has been studied more extensively than any other form of consumption. An estimated 1.1&nbsp;billion people, and up to one-third of the adult population, use tobacco in some form.{{sfn|Gilman|Zhou|2004|p=26}} Smoking is more prevalent among men<ref name="HNPGuindonBoisclair13-16">"[[#HNPGuindonBoisclair|Guindon & Boisclair]]" 2004, pp. 13–16.</ref> (however, the gender gap declines with age),{{sfn|Samet & Yoon|2001|p=5-6}}{{sfn|Surgeon General's Report Women and Smoking|2001|p=47}} the poor, and in transitional or [[developing countries]].<ref name="WHOTobaccoFactSheet">{{cite web|url=http://www.wpro.who.int/NR/exeres/978BE0FD-AE30-46C6-8F75-1F40AE7B57BC.htm|title=WHO/WPRO-Tobacco|access-date=January 1, 2009|year=2005|publisher=World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211215317/http://www.wpro.who.int/NR/exeres/978BE0FD-AE30-46C6-8F75-1F40AE7B57BC.htm|archive-date=February 11, 2009}}</ref> A study published in [[Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report]] found that in 2019 approximately one in four youths (23.0%) in the U.S. had used a tobacco product during the past 30 days. This represented approximately three in 10 high school students (31.2%) and approximately one in eight middle school students (12.5%).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Teresa W. |last2=Gentzke |first2=Andrea S. |last3=Creamer |first3=MeLisa R. |last4=Cullen |first4=Karen A. |last5=Holder-Hayes |first5=Enver |last6=Sawdey |first6=Michael D. |last7=Anic |first7=Gabriella M. |last8=Portnoy |first8=David B. |last9=Hu |first9=Sean |last10=Homa |first10=David M. |last11=Jamal |first11=Ahmed |last12=Neff |first12=Linda J. |title=Tobacco Product Use and Associated Factors Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2019 |journal=MMWR. Surveillance Summaries |date=6 November 2019 |volume=68 |issue=12 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.15585/mmwr.ss6812a1 |pmid=31805035 |pmc=6903396 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Rates of smoking continue to rise in developing countries, but have leveled off or declined in [[developed countries]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs339/en/ |title=WHO fact sheet: Tobacco |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] |date=26 July 2013 |access-date=3 October 2013}}</ref> Smoking rates in the United States have dropped by half from 1965 to 2006, falling from 42% to 20.8% in adults.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5644a2.htm#fig |title=Cigarette Smoking Among Adults – United States, 2006 |publisher=Cdc.gov |access-date=October 3, 2013}}</ref> In the developing world, tobacco consumption is rising by 3.4% per year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wpro.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs_20020528/en/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826030927/http://www.wpro.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs_20020528/en/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 26, 2013 |title=WHO/WPRO-Smoking Statistics |publisher=Wpro.who.int |date=May 27, 2002 |access-date=April 21, 2014}}</ref>

===Health effects===
{{Main|Health effects of tobacco|List of cigarette smoke carcinogens|Tobacco packaging warning messages|List of additives in cigarettes}}

[[File:HarmCausedByDrugsTable.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Table from the 2010 [[DrugScience]] study ranking various drugs (legal and illegal) based on statements by drug-harm experts. Tobacco was found to be the sixth overall most dangerous drug.<ref name="Nutt_2010">{{cite journal | vauthors = Nutt DJ, King LA, Phillips LD | title = Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis | journal = Lancet | volume = 376 | issue = 9752 | pages = 1558–1565 | date = November 2010 | pmid = 21036393 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61462-6 | s2cid = 5667719 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.690.1283 }}</ref>]]
[[File:Deaths from tobacco, alcohol and drugs, OWID.svg|thumb|Deaths from tobacco, alcohol and drugs]]
[[File:Adverse effects of tobacco smoking.svg|thumb|Common adverse effects of tobacco smoking]]

According to the World Health Organization, tobacco kills more than 8 million people every year worldwide, including about 1.3 million non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tobacco |url=https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco |website=World Health Organization |publisher=WHO |date=2024 |access-date=8 September 2025}}</ref>

====Chemicals====
Tobacco smoking harms health because of the toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke, including [[carbon monoxide]], [[cyanide]], and [[carcinogens]], which have been proven to cause heart and lung diseases and cancer.
Thousands of different substances in cigarette smoke, including [[polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons]] (such as [[benzopyrene]]), [[formaldehyde]], [[cadmium]], [[nickel]], [[arsenic]], [[tobacco-specific nitrosamines]], and [[phenols]] contribute to the harmful effects of smoking.<ref name="tobaccocontrol.bmj.com">{{cite journal|author=Proctor Robert N|year=2012|title=The history of the discovery of the cigarette-lung cancer link: evidentiary traditions, corporate denial, global toll|url=http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/21/2/87.full.pdf|journal=Tobacco Control|volume=21|issue=2|pages=87–91|doi=10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2011-050338|pmid=22345227|s2cid=2734836|doi-access=free}}</ref>

According to the World Health Organization, tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable death globally.<ref name="who 2008 mpower"/> WHO estimates that tobacco caused 5.4&nbsp;million deaths in 2004<ref name="WHO 2004">{{Cite book |last1=Mathers |first1=Colin |author-link=Colin Mathers |last2=Boerma |first2=Ties |last3=Fat |first3=Doris Ma |date=2008 |title=The Global Burden of Disease : 2004 Update |url=https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/43942 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207114854/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43942/9789241563710_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=February 7, 2022 |access-date=October 6, 2022 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] |hdl=10665/43942 |isbn=978-92-4-156371-0 |oclc=264018380}}</ref> and 100 million deaths over the course of the 20th century.<ref name="who 2008 mpower"/> Similarly, the United States [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] describe tobacco use as "the single most important preventable risk to human health in developed countries and an important cause of premature death worldwide."<ref name="fn1">{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/you_can_quit/nicotine.htm |title=Nicotine: A Powerful Addiction |work=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226225821/http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/you_can_quit/nicotine.htm |archive-date=February 26, 2009}}</ref> Due to these health consequences, it is estimated that a 10 hectare (approximately 24.7 acre) field of tobacco used for cigarettes causes 30 deaths per year – 10 from lung cancer and 20 from cigarette-induced diseases like cardiac arrest, gangrene, bladder cancer, mouth cancer, etc.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Proctor |first1=Robert N |title=The history of the discovery of the cigarette–lung cancer link: evidentiary traditions, corporate denial, global toll: Table 1 |journal=Tobacco Control |date=March 2012 |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=87–91 |doi=10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2011-050338 |pmid=22345227 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The harms caused by inhaling tobacco smoke include diseases of the [[heart]] and [[lung]]s, with smoking being a major risk factor for [[myocardial infarction|heart attacks]], [[stroke]]s, [[chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]] (emphysema), and [[cancer]] (particularly cancers of the [[Lung cancer|lungs]], [[Cancer of the larynx|larynx, mouth]], and [[pancreatic cancers|pancreas]]). Cancer is caused by inhaling carcinogenic substances in tobacco smoke.

Inhaling [[secondhand tobacco smoke]] (which has been exhaled by a smoker) can cause lung cancer in nonsmoking adults. In the United States, about 3,000 adults die each year due to lung cancer from secondhand smoke exposure. Heart disease caused by secondhand smoke kills around 46,000 nonsmokers every year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Secondhand Smoke |url=http://betobaccofree.hhs.gov/health-effects/secondhand-smoke/index.html |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920231625/http://betobaccofree.hhs.gov/health-effects/secondhand-smoke/index.html |archive-date=September 20, 2014 |website=BeTobaccoFree |publisher=[[United States Department of Health and Human Services|Health and Human Services]]}}</ref>

In children, exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke is associated with a higher incidence and severity of [[Respiratory illness|respiratory illnesses]], middle ear disease, and [[asthma]] attacks. Each year in the United States, secondhand smoke exposure causes 24,500 infants to be born with [[low birth weight]], 71,900 [[Preterm birth|preterm births]], 202,300 episodes of asthma, and 790,000 health care visits for ear infections.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8hk6960q |title=Proposed Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant |last=Air Resources Board |date=June 24, 2005 |publisher=[[California Environmental Protection Agency]] |access-date=October 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127163329/https://escholarship.org/content/qt8hk6960q/qt8hk6960q.pdf?t=krnni4 |archive-date=November 27, 2021}}</ref>

The addictive alkaloid [[nicotine]] is a [[stimulant]], and popularly known as the most characteristic constituent of tobacco. In drug effect preference questionnaires, a rough indicator of addictive potential, nicotine scores almost as highly as opioids.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://ww1.drugabuse.gov/pdf/monographs/92.pdf |title=Testing for Abuse Liability of Drugs in Humans |publisher=[[National Institute on Drug Abuse]], [[United States Department of Health and Human Services|Health and Human Services]] |year=1989 |editor-last=Fischman |editor-first=Marian W. |editor-link=Marian Fischman |location=Rockville, MD |page=79 |id=NIDA Research Monograph No. 92 |editor-last2=Mello |editor-first2=Nancy K. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222041641/http://ww1.drugabuse.gov/pdf/monographs/92.pdf |archive-date=December 22, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Users typically develop [[Physiological tolerance|tolerance]] and [[Chemical dependency|dependence]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tobaccofacts.org/tob_truth/soaddictive.html |title=Tobacco Facts – Why is Tobacco So Addictive? |publisher=Tobaccofacts.org |access-date=September 18, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314185950/http://www.tobaccofacts.org/tob_truth/soaddictive.html |archive-date=March 14, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stanford.edu/group/SICD/PhilipMorris/pmorris.html |title=Philip Morris Information Sheet |publisher=[[Stanford University]] |access-date=September 18, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080405204802/http://www.stanford.edu/group/SICD/PhilipMorris/pmorris.html |archive-date=April 5, 2008}}</ref> Nicotine is known to produce [[conditioned place preference]], a sign of psychological enforcement value.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Le Foll |first1=Bernard |last2=Goldberg |first2=Steven R. |title=Nicotine induces conditioned place preferences over a large range of doses in rats |journal=Psychopharmacology |date=April 2005 |volume=178 |issue=4 |pages=481–492 |doi=10.1007/s00213-004-2021-5 |pmid=15765262 |s2cid=34966899 }}</ref> In one medical study, tobacco's overall harm to user and self was determined at three percent below cocaine, and 13 percent above amphetamines, ranking sixth most harmful of the 20 drugs assessed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nutt |first1=David J |last2=King |first2=Leslie A |last3=Phillips |first3=Lawrence D |title=Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis |journal=The Lancet |date=November 2010 |volume=376 |issue=9752 |pages=1558–1565 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61462-6 |citeseerx=10.1.1.690.1283 |pmid=21036393 |s2cid=5667719 }}</ref>

Tobacco also contains 2,3,6-Trimethyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (sometimes called 2,3,6-TQ and TMN) which is a reversible [[monoamine oxidase inhibitor]] of type A and B with a binding affinity somewhat similar to that of [[clorgyline]] and [[deprenyl]]. It is a stronger dopamine releasing agent than nicotine and inhibits dopamine metabolism from its MAOI activity.<ref>{{cite thesis | url=https://repository.nwu.ac.za/handle/10394/590 | title=Smoking and brain dopaminergic neurochemistry | date=March 25, 2024 | publisher=North-West University | type=Thesis | vauthors = McAfee G }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/1_4-Naphthalenedione_-2_3_6-trimethyl | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320215324/https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/1_4-Naphthalenedione_-2_3_6-trimethyl | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 20, 2024 | title=1,4-Naphthalenedione, 2,3,6-trimethyl- }}</ref> Tobacco also contains [[Harmine]] and Norharmine which is a reversible MAO-A inhibitor.<ref>{{cite journal | pmc=6592107 | date=2019 | title=Effect of Harmine on Nicotine-Induced Kidney Dysfunction in Male Mice | journal=International Journal of Preventive Medicine | volume=10 | page=97 | doi=10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_85_18 | doi-access=free | pmid=31360344 | vauthors = Salahshoor MR, Roshankhah S, Motavalian V, Jalili C }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | pmid=28057462 | date=2017 | title=Monoamine oxidase inhibitory activity in tobacco particulate matter: Are harman and norharman the only physiologically relevant inhibitors? | journal=Neurotoxicology | volume=59 | pages=22–26 | doi=10.1016/j.neuro.2016.12.010 | vauthors = Truman P, Grounds P, Brennan KA | bibcode=2017NeuTx..59...22T }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.3389/fnmol.2022.925272 | doi-access=free | title=Harmane Potentiates Nicotine Reinforcement Through MAO-A Inhibition at the Dose Related to Cigarette Smoking | date=2022 | journal=Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience | volume=15 | pmid=35832393 | pmc=9271706 | vauthors = Ding Z, Li X, Chen H, Hou H, Hu Q | article-number=925272 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4253715 | jstor=4253715 | title=Nicotiana an Hallucinogen? | journal=Economic Botany | date=March 25, 1976 | volume=30 | issue=2 | pages=149–151 | doi=10.1007/BF02862960 | vauthors = Janiger O, De Rios MD | bibcode=1976EcBot..30..149J | url-access=subscription }}</ref> The MAO-A activity of tobacco alkaloids have been thought to play a role in the addictive qualities of tobacco.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/1107244 | doi=10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.82 | title=Monoamine Oxidase a Binding in the Prefrontal and Anterior Cingulate Cortices During Acute Withdrawal from Heavy Cigarette Smoking | date=2011 | journal=Archives of General Psychiatry | volume=68 | issue=8 | pages=817–826 | pmid=21810646 | vauthors = Bacher I, Houle S, Xu X, Zawertailo L, Soliman A, Wilson AA, Selby P, George TP, Sacher J, Miler L, Kish SJ, Rusjan P, Meyer JH | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

====Radioactivity====
[[Polonium-210]] is a radioactive trace contaminant of tobacco, providing additional explanation for the link between smoking and [[bronchial cancer]].<ref name="polonium">{{cite journal|jstor=1712451|title=Polonium-210: A Volatile Radioelement in Cigarettes|journal=Science|volume=143|issue=3603|pages=247–249|last1=Radford|first1=Edward P.|last2=Hunt|first2=Vilma R.|year=1964|doi=10.1126/science.143.3603.247|pmid=14078362|bibcode=1964Sci...143..247R|s2cid=23455633}}</ref>
The radioactive particles build up over time in the lungs and a UCLA study has estimated that the radiation from 25 years of smoking would cause over 120 deaths per thousand smokers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uclahealth.org/news/big-tobacco-knew-radioactive-particles-in-cigarettes|title=Big Tobacco knew radioactive particles in cigarettes posed cancer risk but kept quiet|website=www.uclahealth.org}}</ref>

===Economic===
Tobacco makes a significant economic contribution. The global tobacco market in 2010 was estimated at US$760&nbsp;billion, excluding China.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bat.com/group/sites/UK__9D9KCY.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO9DCKFM|title=British American Tobacco – The global market|website=www.bat.com|language=en|access-date=March 15, 2018|archive-date=March 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310114510/http://www.bat.com/group/sites/UK__9D9KCY.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO9DCKFM|url-status=dead}}</ref> The global revenues from tobacco taxes in 2013–2014 was approximately $269&nbsp;billion.

In China, cigarette manufacturing is one of the few profitable state-owned industries. For example, in 1998 the 1,429 state-owned enterprises in Yunnan province had revenue of [[Renminbi]] (RMB) 69.1&nbsp;billion (US$8.3&nbsp;billion) while eight cigarette manufacturing plants alone accounted for about 53 percent (or RMB 36.2&nbsp;billion) of total provincial industry sales.<ref name="issues in global economy">{{Cite book |date=2003 |title=Issues in the global tobacco economy : selected case studies. |url=https://www.fao.org/publications/card/en/c/1391c97a-6e5f-59dc-b664-d14e5e401674/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307151442/https://www.fao.org/3/y4997e/y4997e.pdf |archive-date=March 7, 2022 |access-date=October 6, 2022 |publisher=United Nations [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] |pages=2, 39, 43 |isbn=925105083X |oclc=55056109 |id=Series number 1810-0783}}</ref> The Chinese government also collects tax on tobacco products. Tax revenues from cigarettes increased from 740 to 842&nbsp;billion [[Chinese yuan]] between 2014 and 2016. This generated an additional 101&nbsp;billion Chinese yuan in tax revenues for the government.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goodchild |first1=Mark |last2=Zheng |first2=Rong |title=Early assessment of China's 2015 tobacco tax increase |journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization |date=1 July 2018 |volume=96 |issue=7 |pages=506–512 |doi=10.2471/BLT.17.205989 |pmc=6022610 |pmid=29962553 }}</ref>

In India, tobacco generates approximately 20&nbsp;billion [[Indian rupee]]s (US$0.45&nbsp;billion) of income per annum as a result of employment, income and government revenue.<ref>{{Cite web|title=TOBACCO IN INDIA: 4.10 ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF TOBACCO|url=https://www.fao.org/3/y4997e/y4997e0h.htm|access-date=October 27, 2021|website=Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).}}</ref>

[[Statistica]] estimates that in the U.S. alone, the tobacco industry has a market of US$121&nbsp;billion,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/491709/tobacco-united-states-market-value/|title=Tobacco: U.S. market value 2012–2017 {{!}} Statistic|website=Statista|language=en|access-date=March 15, 2018}}</ref> despite the fact the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC]] reports that US smoking rates are declining steadily.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/tables/trends/cig_smoking/index.htm|title=CDC – Trends in Current Cigarette Smoking – Smoking & Tobacco Use|last=Health|first=CDC's Office on Smoking and|website=Smoking and Tobacco Use|language=en-us|access-date=March 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307151249/https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/tables/trends/cig_smoking/index.htm|archive-date=March 7, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> In terms of health expenditures, cigarette smoking contributed to more than $225&nbsp;billion (or 11.7%) of annual healthcare spending in the U.S. in 2014.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Xin |last2=Shrestha |first2=Sundar S. |last3=Trivers |first3=Katrina F. |last4=Neff |first4=Linda |last5=Armour |first5=Brian S. |last6=King |first6=Brian A. |title=U.S. healthcare spending attributable to cigarette smoking in 2014 |journal=Preventive Medicine |date=September 2021 |volume=150 |article-number=106529 |doi=10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106529 |pmid=33771566 |pmc=10953804 }}</ref> Smoking-attributable healthcare spending increased more than 30% for Medicaid between 2010 and 2014.<ref name=":0" />

In the US, the decline in the number of smokers, the end of the [[Tobacco Transition Payment Program]] in 2014, and competition from growers in other countries, made tobacco farming economics more challenging.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bomey|first1=Nathan|title=Thousands of farmers stopped growing tobacco after deregulation payouts|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/09/02/thousands-farmers-stopped-growing-tobacco-after-deregulation-payouts/32115163/|work=USA Today|date=September 2, 2015|language=en}}</ref>

Of the 1.22&nbsp;billion smokers worldwide, 1&nbsp;billion of them live in developing or transitional economies, and much of the disease burden and premature mortality attributable to tobacco use disproportionately affect the poor.<ref name="WHOTobaccoFactSheet" /> While smoking prevalence has declined in many developed countries, it remains high in others, and is increasing among women and in developing countries. Between one-fifth and two-thirds of men in most populations smoke. Women's smoking rates vary more widely but rarely equal male rates.<ref name="greenfacts">{{cite web|title=Tobacco: Active and Passive Smoking|url=http://www.greenfacts.org/en/tobacco/2-tobacco-smoking/1-smoke-tobacco.htm|website=Greenfacts.org|access-date=July 5, 2016}}</ref>

Tobacco users must also spend a significant amount of money on cigarettes to maintain regular use, as tobacco products are often heavily taxed by governments. For example, a pack a day smoker in the state of New York would have to spend around $4,690.25 a year on cigarettes alone.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cost of Smoking |url=https://tobaccofreelife.org/why-quit-smoking/cost-smoking/ |access-date=July 6, 2022 |website=Tobacco-Free Life |language=en-US}}</ref>

In Indonesia, the lowest income group spends 15% of its total expenditures on tobacco. In Egypt, more than 10% of low-income household expenditure is on tobacco. The poorest 20% of households in Mexico spend 11% of their income on tobacco.<ref name="who 2008 mpower"/>

===Advertising===
{{Main|Nicotine marketing}}

The tobacco industry advertises its products through a variety of media, including sponsorship, particularly of sporting events. Because of the health risks of these products, this is now one of the most highly regulated forms of marketing. Some or all forms of tobacco advertising are banned in many countries.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Products |first=Center for Tobacco |date=January 28, 2022 |title=Advertising and Promotion |url=https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/products-guidance-regulations/advertising-and-promotion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611174819/https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/products-guidance-regulations/advertising-and-promotion |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 11, 2019 |access-date=July 6, 2022 |website=FDA |language=en}}</ref>

==Legality==
{{See|Smoking age}}

==See also==
* [[Biorefinery|Biorefining of tobacco]]
* [[List of tobacco-related topics]]
* [[Smoking cessation]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Further reading===
* {{cite web |title=Cancer Facts & Figures 2015 |url=http://www.cancer.org/research/cancerfactsstatistics/cancerfactsfigures2015/index |website=American Cancer Society |access-date=February 23, 2015 |ref=ACS2015 |archive-date=January 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117014219/http://www.cancer.org/research/cancerfactsstatistics/cancerfactsfigures2015/index |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite web|url=http://www1.worldbank.org/tobacco/pdf/Guindon-Past,%20current-%20whole.pdf|title=Past, current and future trends in tobacco use|access-date=January 2, 2008|author1=G. Emmanuel Guindon |author2=David Boisclair |year=2003 |publisher=The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank|location=Washington DC|ref=HNPGuindonBoisclair}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Gilman |first1=Sander L. |author-link=Sander Gilman |last2=Zhou |first2=Xun |url=https://archive.org/details/smokeglobalhisto0000unse/mode/2up |title=Smoke : A Global History of Smoking |date=2004 |publisher=[[Reaktion Books]] |isbn=978-1-86189-200-3 |location=London |oclc=56967899 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Mathers |first1=Colin |author-link=Colin Mathers |last2=Boerma |first2=Ties |last3=Fat |first3=Doris Ma |date=2008 |title=The Global Burden of Disease : 2004 Update |url=https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/43942 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207114854/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43942/9789241563710_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=February 7, 2022 |access-date=October 6, 2022 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] |hdl=10665/43942 |isbn=978-92-4-156371-0 |oclc=264018380}}
* {{cite journal |title=Environmental causes of human cancers|author1=Montesano, R. |author2=Hall, J. |year=2001 |journal=European Journal of Cancer |volume=37 |pages=67–87 |doi=10.1016/S0959-8049(01)00266-0 |pmid=11602374 |ref=Montesano2001}}
* {{cite web |last1=Office of the Surgeon General |url=https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2001/|title=Surgeon General's Report — Women and Smoking |access-date=October 6, 2022 |year=2001 |publisher=[[United States Department of Health and Human Services|Department of Health and Human Services]] |ref={{SfnRef|Surgeon General's Report Women and Smoking|2001}}|author1-link=Surgeon General of the United States }}
* {{cite journal |author1=Paul Lichtenstein |author2=Niels V. Holm |author3=Pia K. Verkasalo |author4=Anastasia Iliadou |author5=Jaakko Kaprio |author6=Markku Koskenvuo |author7=Eero Pukkala |author8=Axel Skytthe |author9=Kari Hemminki |title=Environmental and Heritable Factors in the Causation of Cancer — Analyses of Cohorts of Twins from Sweden, Denmark, and Finland |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |volume=343 |issue=2 |year=2000 |doi=10.1056/NEJM200007133430201 |pmid=10891514 |pages=78–85 |ref=Lichtenstein2000|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.ctsu.ox.ac.uk/~tobacco/SMK_All_PAGES.pdf |title=Mortality from Smoking in Developed Countries 1950–2000: indirect estimates from national vital statistics |access-date=January 3, 2009 |author1=Richard Peto |author2=Alan D Lopez |author3=Jillian Boreham |author4=Michael Thun |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050224232603/http://www.ctsu.ox.ac.uk/~tobacco/SMK_All_PAGES.pdf |archive-date=February 24, 2005|url-status=dead|ref=MortalityDevelopedOxford}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/tobacco/media/en/WomenMonograph.pdf|title=Women and the Tobacco Epidemic: Challenges for the 21st Century|access-date=January 2, 2009 |editor-last1=Samet |editor-first1=Jonathan M. |editor-link1=Jonathan Samet |editor-last2=Yoon |editor-first2=Soon-Young |year=2001 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]], The Institute for Global Tobacco Control, [[Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health|Johns Hopkins School of Public Health]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031128122821/http://www.who.int/tobacco/media/en/WomenMonograph.pdf|archive-date=November 28, 2003|url-status=dead |ref={{SfnRef|Samet & Yoon|2001}}}}
* {{Cite book |date=2008 |title=WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008 : The MPOWER Package. |url=https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43818/9789241596282_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121162003/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43818/9789241596282_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=January 21, 2022 |access-date=October 6, 2022 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] |pages=6, 8, 20 |isbn=978-92-4-068311-2 |oclc=476167599}}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C3KhGwAACAAJ |title=Perique Tobacco Mystery and History: A Monograph |last1=Aristée Poché |first1=L. |year=2002}}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7nNkB8R4GkC&pg=PP1 |title=Golden-Silk Smoke: A History of Tobacco in China, 1550–2010 |isbn=978-0-520-94856-3 |last1=Benedict |first1=Carol |year= 2011|publisher=University of California Press }}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ro45DgAAQBAJ |title=The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America|isbn = 978-0-7867-2190-0 |last1=Brandt |first1=Allan |year= 2009|publisher=Basic Books }}
* {{cite book |isbn=0-691-00596-6 |title=Tobacco Culture: The Mentality of the Great Tidewater Planters on the Eve of Revolution |last1=Breen |first1=T. H. |year=1985|publisher=Princeton University Press }}. ''Source on tobacco culture in 18th-century Virginia pp.&nbsp;46–55''
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZfqS7vi9vEC |title=The Smoke of the Gods: A Social History of Tobacco |isbn=978-1-59213-482-3 |last1=Burns |first1=Eric |year= 2006|publisher=Temple University Press }}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=392vBQAAQBAJ |title=The Golden Leaf: How Tobacco Shaped Cuba and the Atlantic World |isbn=978-0-8265-2034-0 |last1=Cosner |first1=Charlotte |date=February 10, 2015|publisher=Vanderbilt University Press }}
* {{cite news |last=Fuller |first=R. Reese |date=Spring 2003 |title=Perique, the Native Crop |work=Louisiana Life |url=http://www.reesefuller.com/articles/perique-the-native-crop/}}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x41jVocj05EC |title = Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization |isbn=978-0-8021-9848-8 |last1=Gately |first1=Iain |date=December 2007|publisher = Open Road + Grove/Atlantic }}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DP-HAgAAQBAJ |title=Tobacco in History: The Cultures of Dependence|isbn = 978-1-134-81840-2 |last1=Goodman |first1=Jordan |year= 2005|publisher=Routledge }}
* {{cite book |isbn=0-394-51238-3 |title=From a Limestone Ledge: Some Essays and Other Ruminations about Country Life in Texas |url=https://archive.org/details/fromlimestoneled00grav |url-access=registration |last1=Graves |first1=John |year=1980|publisher=Knopf }}
* {{cite journal |jstor=10.1086/ahr.111.5.1352 |doi=10.1086/ahr.111.5.1352 |pmid=17907367 |title=Smoking and "Early Modern" Sociability: The Great Tobacco Debate in the Ottoman Middle East (Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries) |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=111 |issue=5 |pages=1352–1377 |year=2006 |last1=Grehan |first1=James }}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39KcvbVgHmEC |title = Making Tobacco Bright: Creating an American Commodity, 1617–1937|isbn = 978-1-4214-0286-4|last1 = Hahn|first1 = Barbara M.|year=2011| publisher=JHU Press }}; examines how marketing, technology, and demand figured in the rise of Bright Flue-Cured Tobacco, a variety first grown in the inland Piedmont region of the Virginia-North Carolina border.
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3FsjAQAAMAAJ |title=Principles of Flue-Cured Tobacco Production |last1=Hawks |first1=S. N. |last2=Collins |first2=W. K. |year=1983}}
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/tobaccoleafitsc00myrigoog |title = Tobacco Leaf, Its Culture and Cure, Marketing and Manufacture: A Practical Handbook on the Most Approved Methods in Growing, Harvesting, Curing, Packing and Selling Tobacco, Also of Tobacco Manufacture|publisher=Orange Judd Company |last1 = Killebrew|first1 = Joseph Buckner|last2 = Myrick|first2 = Herbert|year = 1897}} ''Source for flea beetle typology (p.&nbsp;243)''
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_i1AAAACAAJ |author-link=Richard Kluger |title=Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris |isbn=978-0-517-45110-6 |last1=Kluger |first1=Richard |year= 1999 |publisher=Random House Value }}, Pulitzer Prize
* {{cite book |isbn=978-0-7546-5931-0 |title=Studies on Ottoman Society and Culture, 16th–18th Centuries |last1=Murphey |first1=Rhoads |date= 2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing Company }}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E7JDJzogCHMC&pg=PP1 |title=Balkan Smoke: Tobacco and the Making of Modern Bulgaria |isbn=978-0-8014-6550-5 |last1=Neuburger |first1=Mary C. |year= 2012 |publisher=Cornell University Press }}
* {{cite journal |jstor=1922038 |title=The Rise of Glasgow in the Chesapeake Tobacco Trade, 1707–1775 |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=179–199 |last1=Price |first1=Jacob M. |year=1954 |doi=10.2307/1922038}}
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalstatis01scho |title=Historical and statistical information respecting the history, condition and prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States: Collected and prepared under the direction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs per act of Congress of March 3rd, 1847|publisher=Historical American Indian Press |last1=Schoolcraft |first1=Henry Rowe |year=1851}}
* {{cite book |isbn=1-84511-137-0 |title=Smoking, Culture and Economy in the Middle East |last1=Shechter |first1=Relli |year= 2006 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KtwkuAAACAAJ |title=The Bright Tobacco Industry, 1860–1929 |isbn=978-0-8078-7953-5 |last1=Tilley |first1=Nannie M. |year=2012|publisher=University of North Carolina Press }}

* Werner, Carl Avery. ''Tobaccoland: A book about tobacco; its history, legends, literature, cultivation, social and hygienic influences, commercial development, industrial processes and governmental regulation.'' (1922) [https://archive.org/details/tobaccolandbooka00wernuoft/page/n10/mode/1up online]

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco WHO fact sheet on tobacco]

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