Tobacco

Not to be confused with Tabacco, Tabaco, Tabasco, or Tobago.
For the plant genus, see Nicotiana. For other uses, see Tobacco (disambiguation).

Tobacco
Tobacco flakes, sliced from pressed plugs
Source plant(s)Nicotiana
Part(s) of plantLeaf
Geographic originThe Americas
Active ingredientsNicotine, harmine
UsesRecreational, Sacred, Medical, Religious, Traditional, Peacemaking
Legal status
  • AU: Unscheduled
  • BR: Class E (Controlled plants)
  • CA: Unscheduled
  • DE: Unscheduled
  • UK: General sales list (GSL, OTC)
  • US: Unscheduled
  • UN: Unscheduled
  • In general, legal and regulated as a controlled substance for recreational use in most countries, tobacco smuggling or homemade tobacco making or growing is illegal. See tobacco control
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Tobacco
Dunhill Early Morning Pipe Tobacco
History
Chemistry
Biology
Personal and social effects
Production
Tobacco drying kiln in 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.
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 cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the chief commercial crop is N. tabacum. The more potent variant N. rustica is also used in some countries.

Dried tobacco leaves are mainly used for smoking in cigarettes and cigars, as well as pipes and shishas. They can also be consumed as snuff, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco, and snus.

Tobacco contains the highly addictive stimulant alkaloid nicotine as well as harmala alkaloids.[1] Tobacco use is a cause or risk factor for many deadly diseases, especially those affecting the heart, liver, and lungs[2] as well as many cancers. In 2008, the World Health Organization named tobacco use as the world's single greatest preventable cause of death.[3]

In Minas Gerais, Brazil
  1. ^ Rudgley R (1998). "Tobacco". The Encyclopaedia of Psychoactive Substances. London: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-64347-4. OCLC 39129000. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  2. ^ CDC. "What Are the Risk Factors for Lung Cancer?". Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  3. ^ WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008 : The MPOWER Package (PDF). World Health Organization. 2008. pp. 6, 8, 20. ISBN 978-92-4-068311-2. OCLC 476167599. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 21, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022. Tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death in the world today.