Short answers, pulled from the story.
The English word tobacco originates from the Spanish tabaco, which traces its roots to the Taíno language of the Caribbean. Bartolomé de las Casas recorded in 1552 that the term meant a roll of tobacco leaves while Oviedo described it as a Y-shaped pipe used for sniffing smoke instead.
Cultivation sites in Mexico date back to 1400 or 1000 BCE according to archaeological evidence. Native American tribes carried tobacco in pouches as trade items across Northeast Woodlands cultures before Francisco Hernández de Toledo brought seeds to Spain in 1559 under King Philip II's orders.
Tobacco contains nicotine which acts as a powerful neurotoxin to insects but affects human brains differently. Polonium-210 radioactive trace contaminants build up in lungs causing bronchial cancer risks and the World Health Organization named tobacco use the world's single greatest preventable cause of death in 2008.
China founded State Tobacco Monopoly Administration in 1982 controlling all production marketing imports exports. STMA contributes 12% to national income while collecting tax revenues increasing from 740 to 842 billion yuan between 2014 and 2016.
Global tobacco market reached US$760 billion excluding China in 2010 according to estimates. Tobacco kills more than 8 million people annually including 1.3 million non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke.