A Brief Social History of Smoking

Smoking is a practice where a substance, most commonly tobacco, is burned and the smoke tasted or inhaled. It is one of the most common forms of recreational drug to be used where the most popular type is tobacco and is practiced by over one billion people in of all human societies.

Smoking, primarily of tobacco, is an activity that is practiced by up to a 1/3 of the adult population. The image of the smoker can vary considerably, but is very often associated, especially in fiction, with individuality and aloofness. Even so, smoking of cannabis seeds bank both tobacco and cannabis can be a social activity and is part of the cultural of many diverse, social and ethnic groups.

Many smokers begin smoking in social settings and the offering and sharing of a cigarette is often a good excuse to start a conversation with strangers in many settings; in bars, night clubs, at work or on the street. Lighting a cigarette is often seen as an effective way of avoiding the appearance of idleness.

For adolescents, it can function as a first step out of childhood or as an act of rebellion against the adult cannabis seeds bank world. Other than recreational drug use, it can be used to construct identity and a development of self-image by associating it with personal experiences connected with smoking.

However, in spite of the popularity of smoking, medical studies have proven that smoking is among the leading causes of diseases such as lung cancer, heart attacks, and chronic obstructive disease and it can also lead to birth defects.

The well-proven health hazards of smoking have caused many countries to institute high taxes on tobacco products and anti-smoking campaigns are cannabis seeds bank launched every year in an attempt to curb smoking. Several countries, states and cities have also imposed smoking bans in most public buildings.

By Danny Dennis copyright 2008 - 2012