Cigarette
A carved stone from the temple at Palenque in Mexico depicts a Maya deity holding a smoking tube around the 9th century. This image captures one of the earliest known forms of cigarettes, which were reeds or tubes used to smoke tobacco and other psychoactive drugs during religious rituals. The Maya and later the Aztecs frequently portrayed priests and deities smoking on pottery and temple engravings. These early devices differed significantly from modern paper-wrapped cylinders but established the cultural foundation for tobacco consumption in Central America. By the 17th century, fine paper wrappers had replaced maize leaves when the practice reached Spain. A product called papelate appeared in Francisco Goya's paintings such as La Cometa and El juego de la pelota a pala. In France, the cigarette became known by its current name by 1830. The French state tobacco monopoly began manufacturing them in 1845. The word made its way into English during the 1840s.
Juan Nepomuceno Adorno of Mexico patented the first cigarette-making machine in 1847. Production climbed markedly when James Albert Bonsack developed another machine in the 1880s that increased output from about 40,000 hand-rolled cigarettes daily to around 4 million. James Buchanan Duke spotted these advantages quickly after entering the cigarette industry with his firm W. Duke & Sons & Co. in the early 1880s. He installed two Bonsack machines and spent heavily on advertising and sales promotion. By 1889 his company was the largest cigarette manufacturer in the United States. The new Bonsack machines were decisive because cigars still required slow, laborious hand rolling in hundreds of small workshops. In 1890 Duke and four other major companies combined to form the American Tobacco Company. This trust produced 86% of all cigarettes in the United States by 1910. It also controlled 75% to 95% of other forms like chewing tobacco and snuff but only 14% of cigars. The organization used aggressive tactics against hundreds of small competitors until they sold out. Per capita annual consumption in the U.S. peaked at 4,259 cigarettes in 1965 before falling to 1,691 by 2006.
Modern commercially manufactured cigarettes consist mainly of a tobacco blend, paper, PVA glue, and often cellulose acetate filters. A key ingredient that makes cigarettes more addictive is reconstituted tobacco with additives designed to make nicotine more volatile as it burns. Each cigarette's tobacco blend uses shredded leaves from flue-cured brightleaf, burley tobacco, and oriental tobacco. Processing these leaves produces byproducts such as leaf stems, tobacco dust, and small laminate pieces. These byproducts are processed separately into blended leaf sheets or reconstituted leaf sheets where ammonium additives are applied. Various humectants like propylene glycol or glycerol combine with flavoring products including cocoa solids and licorice. A perfume-like topping blends into the mixture to improve consistency in flavor and taste. A list of 599 cigarette additives was approved by the Department of Health and Human Services in April 1994. None of these chemicals appear on cigarette packs. Ammonia salts convert bound nicotine molecules into free nicotine molecules through a process called freebasing. Cigarettes produce an aerosol containing over 4,000 chemical compounds including carbon monoxide and acrolein. Over 70 of these substances are carcinogens.
A 2024 study estimated that each cigarette reduces life expectancy by 20 minutes while other studies suggest about 11 minutes on average. About half of cigarette smokers die from tobacco-related disease and lose on average 14 years of life. Every year cigarette smoking causes more than 8 million deaths worldwide according to the World Health Organization as of 2019. More than 1.3 million of these deaths involve non-smokers dying from secondhand smoke exposure. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body leading most commonly to heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer. The incidence of erectile dysfunction is approximately 85 percent higher in men who smoke compared to those who do not. Children born to women who smoke during pregnancy face higher risks of congenital disorders and sudden death. Second-hand smoke increases nonsmokers' heart disease risk by 25, 30% and lung cancer risk by 20, 30%. Scientific evidence shows no level of exposure to second-hand smoke is safe. It has been estimated to cause 38,000 deaths per year including 3,400 from lung cancer in nonsmokers.
Nearly all countries have laws restricting places where people can smoke in public with over 40 nations having comprehensive smoke-free laws. In the United States the age to buy tobacco products reached 21 in all states as of 2020. Canada requires smokers to be 19 years old to purchase cigarettes except in Quebec and prairie provinces where the limit is 18. Australia New Zealand Poland and Pakistan enforce a nationwide ban on selling tobacco to anyone under 18. Since the 1st of January 2007 cigarette machines in Germany must verify customer age using debit cards or mobile phones. Japan requires purchasers to be 20 years old and enforces this through Taspo smart cards at vending machines since July 2008. Every 10 percent increase in cigarette price reduces youth smoking by about 7 percent and overall consumption by 4 percent. The World Health Organization recommends taxing cigarettes at least 75% of their sale price. Bhutan became the first country to completely outlaw cultivation harvesting production and sale of tobacco in 2004. Brazil banned all flavored tobacco including menthols in March 2012 allowing only eight additives out of an estimated 600.
Cigarette butts are the most numerically frequent litter in the world accumulating outside buildings parking lots and streets. They can be transported through storm drains into streams rivers and beaches. In North America the common name for remains after smoking is a cigarette butt while Britain calls it a dog-end or fag end. The butt typically represents about 30% of the original length containing tissue tubes filters ash and remaining tobacco. A 2013 trial in Vancouver British Columbia partnered with TerraCycle offering a reward of 1 cent per collected butt to test deposit systems similar to beverage containers. Between 2005 and 2007 European Union studies found 11,000 fires caused by careless handling resulting in 520 deaths and 1,600 injuries. Since the 1980s manufacturers like Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds developed fire-safe cigarettes that self-extinguish when idle. New York was the first U.S. state to mandate fire-safe standards followed by Canada which passed nationwide mandates. The European Union banned non-compliant cigarettes in 2011 requiring all sold within its borders to meet safety standards.
Electronic cigarettes emerged in the 21st century as handheld battery-powered vaporizers simulating smoking without combusting tobacco. Users inhale an aerosol called vapor instead of smoke through devices known as vapes. E-liquids typically contain propylene glycol glycerin nicotine flavorings additives and varying amounts of contaminants. There is moderate-certainty evidence that e-cigarettes with nicotine may help people quit compared to those without nicotine or replacement therapy. However other studies have not supported findings that they are more effective than cessation medicines. In 2019 and 2020 an outbreak of severe lung illness throughout the United States linked to vaping products raised serious concerns. The risk from serious adverse events reported in 2016 was low but less serious effects included abdominal pain headache blurry vision throat irritation vomiting nausea and coughing. Smoking cessation can be achieved through interventions directed at healthcare providers medications like nicotine replacement therapy and counseling. Up to three-quarters of ex-smokers report quitting without assistance using methods described as cold turkey. The number of nicotinic receptors in the brain returns to nonsmoker levels between 6 and 12 weeks after quitting. In 2019 the FDA authorized selling low-nicotine cigarettes hoping to reduce addiction numbers.
Common questions
When did the Maya use smoking tubes in religious rituals?
A carved stone from the temple at Palenque in Mexico depicts a Maya deity holding a smoking tube around the 9th century. This image captures one of the earliest known forms of cigarettes, which were reeds or tubes used to smoke tobacco and other psychoactive drugs during religious rituals.
Who patented the first cigarette-making machine in 1847?
Juan Nepomuceno Adorno of Mexico patented the first cigarette-making machine in 1847. Production climbed markedly when James Albert Bonsack developed another machine in the 1880s that increased output from about 40,000 hand-rolled cigarettes daily to around 4 million.
How many chemical compounds are found in cigarette aerosol according to the script?
Cigarettes produce an aerosol containing over 4,000 chemical compounds including carbon monoxide and acrolein. Over 70 of these substances are carcinogens.
What year did Bhutan become the first country to completely outlaw tobacco cultivation and sale?
Bhutan became the first country to completely outlaw cultivation harvesting production and sale of tobacco in 2004. Nearly all countries have laws restricting places where people can smoke in public with over 40 nations having comprehensive smoke-free laws.
When was the Department of Health and Human Services approval for 599 cigarette additives granted?
A list of 599 cigarette additives was approved by the Department of Health and Human Services in April 1994. None of these chemicals appear on cigarette packs.