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.
Nicotine is a naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants and is widely used recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As a pharmaceutical drug, it is used for smoking cessation to relieve withdrawal symptoms. Nicotine acts as a receptor agonist at most nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), except at two nicotinic receptor subunits where it acts as a receptor antagonist.
Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believed to have begun as early as 5000–3000 BC in Mesoamerica and South America. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 17th century by European colonists, where it followed common trade routes. The practice encountered criticism from its first import into the Western world onwards but embedded itself in certain strata of a number of societies before becoming widespread upon the introduction of automated cigarette-rolling apparatus.
Nicotiana is a genus of herbaceous plants and shrubs in the family Solanaceae, that is indigenous to the Americas, Australia, Southwestern Africa and the South Pacific. Various Nicotiana species, commonly referred to as tobacco plants, are cultivated as ornamental garden plants. N. tabacum is grown worldwide for the cultivation of tobacco leaves used for manufacturing and producing tobacco products, including cigars, cigarillos, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco, snuff, and snus.
A hookah, IPA: ; also see other names), shisha, or waterpipe is a single- or multi-stemmed instrument for heating or vaporizing and then smoking either tobacco, flavored tobacco, or sometimes cannabis, hashish and opium. The smoke is passed through a water basin—often glass-based—before inhalation.
Snus is a Swedish tobacco product. It is consumed by placing a pouch of powdered tobacco leaves under the lip for nicotine to be absorbed through the oral mucosa. Snus, not to be confused with nicotine pouches, consists of ground up tobacco leaves, salt, an alkalizer and (optionally) flavorings. The final product is sold as both loose tobacco, and in portions with the tobacco mixture contained in a small teabag-like pouch.
Cotinine is an alkaloid found in tobacco and is also the predominant metabolite of nicotine, typically used as a biomarker for exposure to tobacco smoke. Cotinine is currently being studied as a treatment for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Cotinine was developed as an antidepressant as a fumaric acid salt, cotinine fumarate, to be sold under the brand name Scotine, but it was never marketed.
Chain smoking is the practice of smoking several cigarettes in succession, sometimes using the ember of a finishing cigarette to light the next. The term chain smoker often also refers to a person who smokes relatively constantly, though not necessarily chaining each cigarette. The term applies primarily to cigarettes, although it can be used to describe incessant cigar and pipe smoking as well as vaping. It is a common indicator of addiction.
Nicotiana benthamiana, colloquially known as benth or benthi, is a species of Nicotiana indigenous to Australia. It is a close relative of tobacco.
Tobacco products, especially when smoked or used orally, have serious negative effects on human health. Smoking and smokeless tobacco use are the single greatest causes of preventable death globally. Half of tobacco users die from complications related to such use. Current smokers are estimated to die an average of 10 years earlier than non-smokers. The World Health Organization estimates that, in total, about 8 million people die from tobacco-related causes, including 1.3 million non-smokers due to secondhand smoke. It is further estimated to have caused 100 million deaths in the 20th century.
Y1 is a strain of tobacco that was cross-bred by Brown & Williamson to obtain an unusually high nicotine content. It became controversial in the 1990s when the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used it as evidence that tobacco companies were intentionally manipulating the nicotine content of cigarettes. Y1 has also been investigated by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Nicotiana tabacum, or cultivated tobacco, is an annually grown herbaceous plant of the genus Nicotiana. N. tabacum is the most commonly grown species in the genus Nicotiana, as the plant's leaves are commercially harvested to be processed into tobacco for human use. The plant is tropical in origin, is commonly grown throughout the world, and is often found in cultivation. It grows to heights between 1 to 2 metres. Research is ongoing into its ancestry among wild Nicotiana species, but it is believed to be a hybrid of Nicotiana sylvestris, N. tomentosiformis, and possibly N. otophora.
Anabasine is a pyridine and piperidine alkaloid found in the tree tobacco plant, as well as in tree tobacco's close relative the common tobacco plant. It is a structural isomer of, and chemically similar to, nicotine. Its principal (historical) industrial use is as an insecticide.
Latakia tobacco is a sun-dried and smoke-cured tobacco product. It originated in Syria and is named after its major port city of Latakia, though large production has permanently moved to Cyprus due to varying and compounding sociopolitical issues within Syrian borders. It is in the family of fire-cured tobaccos in which the leaves are dried(cured) over burning hard wood. What sets Latakia apart from other fire-cured tobaccos is the use of heavy volumes of smoke from both dried and live material from aromatic woods.
Tobacco harm reduction (THR) is a public health strategy to lower the health risks to individuals and wider society associated with using tobacco products. It is an example of the concept of harm reduction, a strategy for dealing with the use of drugs. Tobacco smoking is widely acknowledged as a leading cause of illness and death, and reducing smoking is vital to public health.
This article contains a list of tobacco cultivars and varieties, as well as unique preparations of the tobacco leaf involving particular methods of processing the plant.
Nornicotine is an alkaloid found in various plants including Nicotiana, the tobacco plant. It is chemically similar to nicotine, but does not contain a methyl group.
Smoking in Vietnam is a major health concern, with an estimated 50% of men and 5% of women using tobacco, an estimated 18 million smokers in 2013. In the same year, 47 million non-smokers in Vietnam were regularly exposed to tobacco smoke. Vietnam's Health Education and Communication Center estimates that 40,000 people die annually in Vietnam from first- or secondhand smoking, and that if nothing changes, 10% of the Vietnamese population die from smoking-related illnesses by 2030. Secondhand smoking is noted to have worsened over the years, with more measures required for smoke-free environments favorable for non-smokers.
The chemical constituents of different types of snus vary, and population-level studies suggest that the disease risks vary as well. Using snus is harmful to health, although much less than smoking tobacco.
