Tobacco has been grown for centuries together now. Historical references point out to tobacco being grown in the American continent way back in time dating back to 3000 B.C. They also point out that smoking as a form of tobacco consumption has been in existence in one form or the other, right from about 2000 B.C.

There have been several pictorial drawings of the ancient Mayan civilization that have been excavated that show people smoking crude type of cigars. These drawings date back to 1400 B.C. In fact tobacco has been for long been used by the Native Americans and is a part and parcel of their culture. They were using tobacco even before the arrival of Europeans in the American continent. Early European settlers in the American continent learned to smoke tobacco from the Native Americans and in turn brought the practice to the European continent, where it became very popular. Many of the North American tribes used to use tobacco as a medicine. Then there were tribes that would use tobacco only during ceremonial occasions as it was considered sacred.

Apart from being smoked, tobacco was also drunk as juice, eaten and used for the purpose of enemas. Use of tobacco for religious purposes is still commonly found among many indigenous tribes of the American continents. Tobacco was one of the main reasons for the initial colonial conflicts that Europeans had with Native Americans. It was also the factor that bought in African slave labor in large numbers to the American continents. The use of tobacco for producing smoking products gradually began to grow and then spread throughout the world.