Tobacco, whose leaves are the source of nicotine, was cultivated by people living in America two thousand years before its discovery by Columbus.

It came to Europe in the 16th century and both tobacco and the nicotine it contained were originally used as a medicinal substance. However, nicotine quickly began to be treated as an attractive stimulant, initially by smoking tobacco in pipes, then cigars appeared, and finally, cigarettes, which popularized the addiction to nicotine and made it egalitarian.