tobacco

Drying or ‘curing’ of tobacco in Chiapas, in the far south of Mexico. ‘Dark’ air-cured tobacco (as usually produced in Mexico) is suitable for cigars or cigarillos, whereas ‘light’ air-cured tobacco (as usually produced in the USA) is more appropriate for cigarettes. The process of air-curing may take up to two months.

In central and southern Africa, tobacco reapers pick and tie the large leaves individually on curing-sticks for drying. Harvesting in this way takes place between 70 and 130 days after the seedlings have been transplanted into the growing-fields, provided that pest control measures have been successful.

Workers on a tobacco plantation in South Africa, where the climate suits these large-leafed plants belonging to the nightshade family. The leaves are dried, and cured, before being processed into tobacco products.

The tobacco fields of Kentucky make this state the largest producer of the crop in the USA. Tobacco is grown throughout the state and is the most valuable farm product. At harvest time the tobacco is cut and left in the fields before being gathered for processing.

Any of a group of large-leaved plants belonging to the nightshade family, native to tropical parts of the Americas. The species Nicotiana tabacum is widely cultivated in warm, dry climates for use in cigars and cigarettes, and in powdered form as snuff. (Genus Nicotiana, family Solanaceae.) When it is smoked, it burns and the smoke is inhaled.

The leaves are cured, or dried, and matured in storage for two to three years before use. Introduced to Europe as a medicine in the 16th century, tobacco has been recognized from the 1950s as a major health hazard; see cancer. Burning tobacco gives off around 4,000 different compounds, at least 60 of which are cancerous. The leaves also yield nicotine, a colourless oil, one of the most powerful poisons known, and addictive in humans. It is used in insecticides.

Worldwide, the tobacco conglomerations make a net profit of US$6 billion each year. A US Supreme Court decision in 1992 ruled that tobacco companies can be held legally responsible for the dangerous effects of smoking on health; conglomerations spend US$50 million a year on legal advice to avoid paying out compensation to victims. However, in March 1996, the Liggett Group became the first tobacco company to agree to settle smoking-related claims.

In March 2000 the US Supreme Court rejected the Clinton administration's contention that tobacco should be treated as a drug and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

A US jury ordered $145 billion/£97 billion in punitive damages against the tobacco industry on 14 July 2000. It was unlikely that the money would change hands, however, but the decision was symbolic in apportioning the blame for medical conditions incurred by smoking at the door of the tobacco companies. The five companies, including Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds Tobacco, planned to appeal against the decision. It was feared that this claim against the tobacco industry could trigger many millions more claims for damages, eventually destroying the entire industry.

Nicotine Nicotine is a drug found in tobacco smoke. It can be described as a recreational drug. Nicotine in its pure form is a powerful poison. Nicotine stimulates the human body and it produces feelings that cause people to carry on smoking. In fact, nicotine is usually addictive (see addiction). Regular smokers find that it is very difficult or impossible to give up smoking even though they may try to. This is a problem, because of the many chemicals in smoke that cause a wide range of diseases and increase the risk of dying early.

Genetic modification Tobacco plants with an extra gene inserted to make them resistant to herbicide were approved as a commercial crop in 1994. This was the first incidence of a transgenic organism going on sale in Europe.