Tobacco is an agricultura. product, recognized as an addictive drug, processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. The word nicotiana (as well as nicotine) was named in honor of Jean Nicot, French ambassador to Portugal, who in 1559 sent it as a medicine to the court of Catherine de Medici. It is most commonly smoked in the form of cigarettes or cigars. Tobacco has been growing on both American continents since about 6000 BC and was used by native cultures by around 3000 BC.It has been smoked, in one form or another, since about 3000 BC.Tobacco has a long history of use in Native American culture, and played an important role in the political, economic, and cultural history of the United States of America.
Dried, cured, and unprocessed tobacco is commercially available all over the world. Smoke from burning, or otherwise heated, tobacco can be inhaled in the forms of cigarettes, cigars, stem pipes, bongs, and hookahs. Tobacco can also be chewed, dipped (placed between the cheek and gum), or sniffed into the nose as finely powdered snuff. Many countries set minimum legal smoking ages, regulating the purchase and use of tobacco products. Bhutan is the only country in the world where tobacco sales are illegal. According to the World Health Organization, tobacco smoke is the second biggest cause of death worldwide, and is reported to have been responsible for the deaths of 100 million people in the 20th century.
All methods of tobacco consumption result in varying quantities of nicotine being absorbed into the user's bloodstream. Over time, tolerance and dependence develop. Absorption quantity, frequency, and speed of tobacco consumption are believed to be directly related to biological strength of nicotine dependence, addiction, and tolerance.

Methods of Smoking.

There are various methods of smoking.

Most of them are described here:

CIGARETTE
Cigarette smoking is the most common form of tobacco consumption. Because of the curing process, the smoke is mild enough to inhale in overdose quantities, unlike cigar, roll-your-own or pipe tobacco. Cigarettes also contain a number of additives, particularly to enhance taste. Cigarettes are smoked by some with a cigarette holder.

Roll-Your-Own
Roll-Your-Owns, often called rolleys or roll ups, are very popular, particularly in European countries; these are prepared from loose tobacco, cigarette papers and filters all bought separately. They are usually much cheaper to make.

Cigar
A cigar is generally puffed, not inhaled. Cigars come in many shapes and sizes, the most common being the "Corona", "Cigarillo", and "Robusto". The tobacco used is grown throughout the Caribbean in places such as the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, and Cuba, but also in countries in other regions such as ThePhilippines, Brazil and Indonesia. Cigars generally come available in 2 categories in reference to color, "Natural" and "Maduro". "Natural" shades are ones that do not undergo a further fermenting process, unlike "Maduro" which in its construction involves a further fermenting process to darken and strengthen (in taste) the leaf.

Pipe
A pipe for smoking typically consists of a small chamber (bowl) for combustion of the substance to be smoked and a thin stem (shank) that ends in a mouthpiece (also called a bit). Pipes are made from a variety of materials (some obscure): briar, corncob, meerschaum, clay, wood, glass, gourd, bamboo, and various other materials, such as metal. Tobacco used for smoking pipes is often chemically treated to change smell and taste not available in other commercial tobacco products.
Many of the commercial tobacco produced for pipe use are mixtures using staple ingredients of variously cured Burley and Virginia tobaccos which are mixed with tobaccos from different areas, such as Oriental or Balkan locations. Latakia (a fire-cured tobacco of Cypriot or Syrian origin), Perique (only grown in St. James Parish, Louisiana) or combinations of Virginia and Burley tobaccos of African, Indian, or South American origins. Traditionally, many U.S. tobaccos are made of American Burley with artificial sweeteners and flavorings added to create an artificial "aromatic" smell, whereas "English" blends are based on natural Virginia tobaccos enhanced with Oriental and other natural tobaccos. There is a growing tendency towards "natural" tobaccos which derive their aromas from blending with spice tobaccos alone and historically-based curing processes.
Pipes can range from the simple machine-made briar pipe to handmade and artful implements created by pipe-makers which can be expensive collectors' items. The popularity of pipe smoking in Western countries has declined in recent years under the onslaught of cigarette advertising. However, it has also enjoyed a resurgence of late among younger and middle aged smokers who find its contemplative nature and age-transcendent status as "hobby not habit" to be both thoroughly enjoyable and stress-relieving.

Hookah
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A hookah (or sheesha) is a type of traditional Middle Eastern and South Asian water pipe, which operates by water-filtration and indirect heat which reduces the amount of actual combusted plant material inhaled. Hookahs are most popular in the Middle East, but form a niche market in many other places. In other contexts, hookahs are used to smoke cannabis, hashish or opium.
Typically, tobacco is smoked from a hookah by placing richly flavored tobaccos in the smoking bowl, covering it with foil, and placing a coal on top of the foil. This keeps the tobacco from burning, and allows it to bake. The resulting vapors are further cooled by the hookah water and filtered by a bubbling action in the basin of the hookah, resulting in a moist, warm light smoke. The Al-Waha, Al Fakher, and Nakhla tobacco companies compete for market share in the Middle East by producing flavored tobaccos for use in the hookah. Some flavors include the traditional apple, grape, double apple, orange, strawberry, cherry, mango, vanilla, and melon flavors; as well as more modern flavors of cola, coconut, cappuccino, and banana milk.

BEEDI

A beedi is a thin, often flavored, South Asian cigarette made of tobacco wrapped in a tendu (or temburini; Diospyros melonoxylon) leaf, and secured with colored thread at one end. Tobacco content in beedies is 10-20% and, unlike regular cigarettes, beedies do not contain added chemicals. Like all tobacco products, use can cause various cancer.

Beedi-rolling is a cottage industry in India and is typically done by women in their homes. The process of rolling a beedi is similar to that of a handmade cigarette. Beedis vary accordingly by their size. Beedi tobacco consists of three different tobaccos; each has its own characteristic. The tobacco is brought from different states and each has its own blend. For example, for a strong tobacco flavor, tobacco from the state of Gujarat is preferred. For a more mellow flavor tobacco from Nipani (karnataka) is suitable, and to help the beedies retain the fire longer Choor from Mysore is used. Once the beedies are rolled they are kept in a specially designed oven to ensure good flavor and to remove any moisture. Due to the relatively low cost of beedies compared with regular cigarettes, they have long been popular among the poor in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and India. In India, 850 billion are smoked every year.
Beedies are available in many flavors (such as vanill, strawberry, chocolate, and mango). Their availability in Indian food markets is usually under the authorities' radar, due to the markets' ethnic clientele and ostensible focus on food, drink, and provisions (and omission of alcohol products). A 1999 survey by San Francisco's Booker T Washington Community Service Center reported that 58% of high school students in San Francisco had tried Beedies, and 31% smoked them at least once a month. Seventy percent of packs purchased contained no warning labels, and about 40% did not contain tax-paid stamps, contributing to their low cost Many students who tried beedi believe it to be less harmful than a regular cigarette due to the ease of inhalation and absence of warning labels.

Smoking

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Smoking is a practice where a substance, most commonly tobacco, is burned and the smoke tasted or inhaled. This is primarily done as a form of recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them available for absorption through the lungs. It can also be done as a part of rituals, to induce trances and spiritual enlightenment. The most common method of smoking today is through cigarettes, either industrially manufactured or rolled with loose tobacco and a rolling paper. Other forms, though not as common, are pipes, cigars, hookahs and bongs.
Smoking is one of the most common forms of recreational drug use. Tobacco smoking is today by far the most popular form of smoking and is practiced by over one billion people in the majority of all human societies. Less common drugs for smoking include cannabis and opium. Most drugs that are smoked are considered to be addictive. Some of the substances are classified as hard narcotics, like heroin and crack cocaine, but the use of these is very limited as they are often not commercially available.

The history of smoking can be dated to as early as 5000 BC, and has been recorded in many different cultures across the world. Early smoking evolved in association with religious ceremonies; as offerings to deities, in cleansing rituals or to allow shamans and priests to alter their minds for purposes of divination or spiritual enlightenment. After the European exploration and conquest of the Americas, the practice of smoking tobacco quickly spread to the rest of the world. In regions like India and Subsaharan Africa, it merged with existing practices of smoking (mostly of cannabis). In Europe, it introduced a new type of social activity and a form of drug intake which previously had been unknown.

The cultural perception surrounding smoking has varied over time and from one place to another; holy and sinful, sophisticated and vulgar, a panacea and deadly health hazard. Only recently, and primarily in industrialized Western countries, has smoking come to be viewed in a decidedly negative light. Today medical studies have proven that smoking is among the leading causes of diseases such as lung cancer, heart attacks and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and can also lead to birth defects. The well-proven health hazards of smoking have caused many countries to institute high taxes on tobacco products and anti-smoking campaigns are launched every year in an attempt to curb smoking. Several countries, states and cities have also imposed smoking bans in most public buildings