Description

Tobacco Online

Tobacco is a plant that contains nicotine, a psychoactive (mind altering) drug that speeds up activity in our central nervous system but has relaxing effects too.

Why do we use tobacco?

Humans have been using tobaco for many years for a variety of reasons. For some, tobaco has played an important role in ceremonies and served to mark special occasions such as the birth of a baby. For others, it has been used to increase alertness or to relax and connect with friends and acquaintances at social gatherings. But like other psychoactive substances, tobaco can be harmful.

Whereas someone may smoke a cigarette to relax after work, using tobacco as a tool to relieve stress may lead to reaching for a cigarette whenever they feel irritated or tense. And they may begin to associate smoking with those feelings. If we use tobaco to help us concentrate, in time it may get difficult for us to study and work without smoking. And when socializing, we may enjoy the stimulant effects and camaraderie, but smoking can also be unpleasant or unacceptable to others.

What happens when we use tobacco?

When tobaco leaves are smoked, nicotine is absorbed through the lungs into the bloodstream. When tobaco is chewed or sniffed, nicotine is absorbed through membranes in the mouth and nose. It then travels through the body to the brain.

Nicotine triggers the release of dopamine, a chemical in the brain associated with pleasure. The effects can range from mild stimulation to relaxation. But tobacco (and other nicotine products) may affect different people in different ways, depending on how much is used and how often. Other factors include our:

• past experiences with tobacco, and
• mental and physical health condition.

Health effects

Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, many of which are known to cause cancer. Those who smoke a little once in a while may enjoy the stimulant or relaxing effects of tobaco and may not notice changes in their health. But even light and occasional smoking increases our risk of experiencing tobacco-related illness.

The minority of BC residents smoke

• 14% in the past year
• 42% in their lifetime

Tobacco use also has the potential to negatively affect our social lives. For instance, a few cigarettes may help us relax in a social setting. But non-smoking policies have become the norm in public places and in many homes, potentially leading to fewer opportunities to socialize with friends who may not want to be around second-hand smoke.

Cultivation

Though tobacco is tropical in origin, it is grown throughout the world. Cultivated tobacco (N. tabacum) requires a frost-free period of 100 to 130 days from date of transplanting to maturity in the field. Aztec tbacco (N. rustica), which is grown to some extent in India, Vietnam, and certain Transcaucasian countries, matures more quickly and is more potent than cultivated tobacco.