tobacco

Recognized as an addictive drug, processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. Upon the arrival of European in North America, it quickly became popularized as a trade item and as a recreational drug. Tobacco is packed into its various forms of consumption which include smoking, chewing, sniffing, and so on. The main health risks in tobacco pertain to diseases of the...cardiovascular system, in particular smoking being a major risk factor for a myocardial infarction (heart attack), diseases of the respiratory tract such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and emphysema, and cancer, particularly lung cancer and cancer of the larynx and mouth. It also increases the risk of developing pancreatic cancer by 75%. Prior to World War I, lung cancer was...considered to be a rare disease, which most physician would never see during their career. With the postwar rise in popularity of cigarette smoking came a virtual epidemic of lung cancer. The usage of tobacco is an activity that is practiced by some 1.1 billion people, and up to 1/3 of the adult population.The World Health Organization estimated in 2002 that in developed countries, 26% of male...deaths and 9% of female deaths were attributable to smoking. Similarly, the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention describes tobacco use as "the single most important preventable risk to human health in developed countries and an important cause of premature death worldwide".