Tobacco is the agricultural product of the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana, commonly termed tobacco plants. All species of Nicotiana contain the addictive drug nicotine—a psychostimulant alkaloid found in all parts of the plants except the seeds, and most heavily concentrated in the leaves—which occurs in varying amounts depending on the species of Nicotiana grown; the breed, type, or variety of tobacco cultivated and produced; and the method used to cure and process tobacco leaves once they have been harvested.
This article provides a list of tobacco preparations and products. This list includes both tobacco products meant for consumption and those intended for other uses. Under the heading of consumable tobacco products, several categories of tobacco product are described in this list. Of these four basic categories, the first two include what are most often traditional types of tobacco products and preparations, relegated to the broad sub-categories of smoked tobacco and smokeless tobacco; the latter two categories include those types of tobacco products which have only recently been developed or widely adopted: heated tobacco products and nicotine-only products.
A sub-category of nicotine-only products, herbal tobacco alternatives, consists of products which include added nicotine but mainly consist of non-tobacco herbal or plant material.
Following is a brief description of each of these categories:
Once tobacco has been grown, harvested, cured, and processed, it is used to produce a number of different products, both commercial and noncommercial. These are most often consumable; however, tobacco and the nicotine derived from it are also used to create pesticides.
When the term tobacco product is used to refer to any product containing tobacco or nicotine and intended for consumption, a third and fourth category of such products may become relevant, and especially with regard to recent developments in methods of nicotine consumption: heated tobacco products ( HTPs) and nicotine-only products (also called alternative nicotine products or simply nicotine products)—the latter term itself essentially a misnomer because, while nicotine-only products do not contain tobacco, but rather nicotine in the absence of tobacco, they typically also contain other ingredients besides nicotine—both of which function to deliver nicotine to a user while potentially providing harm reduction from the negative effects of using smokeless tobacco or consuming tobacco smoke. (Tobacco smoke contains tar, carbon monoxide, and other dangerous constituents; tobacco in general normally contains high levels of carcinogenic .)
Another phrase used to denote various types of tobacco product, including "tobacco-adjacent products" which contain synthetic, or non-tobacco, derived nicotine ( non-tobacco nicotine, or NTN), is alternative tobacco products—a catch-all term for any non-cigarette tobacco product.
An expert in tobacco, tobacco products, and tobacciana (objects, accoutrements, and paraphernalia associated with tobacco consumption, and especially items of historical or collectible value)—namely Tobacco pipe, pipe tobacco, and cigars—including their procurement and sale, is called a tobacconist. (The term tobacconist may also refer to the type of business run by tobacconists; to a lesser extent the word refers to retail outlets, often called smoke shops or head shops, that typically sell tobacco products alongside other smoking products, legal psychotropics, cannabis culture-associated products and paraphernalia, and related consumables and accoutrements.)
While nicotine is one of the most widely used recreational drugs, the consequences of its popularity and addictiveness are considerably negative. The effects of the prevalence of tobacco consumption upon society include what has long been the leading preventable cause of death worldwide, economic losses, and serious strains upon the healthcare systems of various countries.
There is some evidence to suggest that when nicotine is consumed in the form of tobacco, called harmala alkaloids present in the tobacco leaf may interact with nicotine in the body to increase its effects, and therefore addictiveness.
This type of product mainly includes nicotine products consisting of nicotine—typically free nicotine, , or nicotine polacrilex—combined with other ingredients, which themselves may or may not be harmful to health depending on the particular ingredients in question and the route of administration involved.
E-cigarette liquid (otherwise known as vape juice, e-liquid, vape oil, or simply juice), for instance, may contain ingredients that when vaped (aerosolized and inhaled) alongside nicotine, such as formaldehyde, are harmful to health and well-being. However, scientific evidence currently points to the possibility that e-cigarettes are at least somewhat safer than conventional (combustible) cigarettes.
The use of nicotine, either in the absence of tobacco or via tobacco consumption, produces a number of physiological effects. These include, but are not limited to: a form of Euphoria intoxication typically known among recreational users as a buzz, nicotine buzz, or nic buzz; changes in blood pressure and circulation; and acute—or, with frequent or repeated use, chronic—alterations of the Endocrine system, cardiac, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems; with acute adverse effects including nausea, lightheadedness, sleep disturbances, rapid heart rate, and headaches.
The only medicinal nicotine agents currently approved as safe for medical intervention—namely nicotine cessation—are nicotine replacement therapy products. NRT products were first approved for use in 1984, when they were introduced in the United States.
A more recent introduction to the growing list of tobacco- and tobacco-related products generally, alternative nicotine products are a type of nicotine-only product which were developed, and are intended, for potential recreational use, rather than for strictly medicinal purposes. (As are NRT products.)
There are numerous varieties of cigar, differentiated by their size, shape, color, and composition. Some products developed from the cigar are, however, markedly different from the traditional product. (Cigarillos, blunts, and little cigars, for instance.) Cigarettes may be the most notable example of this deviation, although they do, in a sense, represent a category of their own.
Tobacciana associated with cigars include cigar , , , cigar holders (also known as cigar mouthpieces, which are similar to ), (including cigar scissors or shears), , and .
Originally, the term snuff referred specifically to dry snuff, otherwise known as nasal snuff, though today the word snuff, when used on its own, may also refer to other pulverized tobacco products such as dipping tobacco and snus.
Snuff etymologically derives from the Dutch language, and likely Middle Dutch specifically: in the 16th century the Dutch, for whom the terms "sniff" and "snuff" were essentially at the time, referred to nasal snuff as (Dutch: "sniff" or "snuff"), from (Dutch: "sniffing", "to sniff" or "snuffing", "to snuff"), the word snuf short for snuftabak (Dutch: "sniff tobacco" or "snuff tobacco", cognate to the German language schnupftabak). (Presently, in contemporary Modern Dutch, the term snuf has largely given way to (Dutch: "sniff" or "snort", from (Dutch: "sniffing", "to sniff", sometimes translated as "snorting", "to snort")), and today snuftabak is more often rendered (Dutch: lit. "sniffing tobacco" or "snorting tobacco", though practically "snuffing tobacco"). Likewise, in the English-speaking world the terms "snuff" and "snuffing" (whether as or ) are rarely used in reference to the act of insufflation, sniffing, or snorting in comparison to "sniff" and "sniffing", respectively.) Hence the term "snuff" originated from snuf and "snuff tobacco" from snuftabak.
Nasal snuff is a fine tobacco dust, flour, or powder meant for light insufflation, or "snuffing", popular and widespread mainly in the 18th century. (Dry snuff is still used today, albeit much less often than other, more popular tobacco products.)
Believed to have originated among the indigenous peoples of Central and South America, namely peoples endemic to the territory of modern-day Brazil, members of Christopher Columbus's crew observed native Caribbean peoples insufflating a snuff-like preparation of tobacco in the late 15th century. Soon after introduced to Europe, snuff was being produced by the Spanish royal tobacco monopoly in the 17th century, and later came to popularity in England in the same century. By the 18th century the habit of snuff use had spread throughout much of the world, though in the 19th, and especially 20th, centuries nasal snuff had largely fallen into disuse. The 20th century witnessed an explosive increase in the popularity of cigarettes as the predominant and preferred type of tobacco product, first in the Western world, and later throughout much of the rest of the world, due to which both nasal snuff and other tobacco products became much less popular among tobacco consumers. The popularity of nasal snuff has increased in the 21st century, though only marginally.
Several broad categories of dry snuff exist:
European-style nasal snuff also comes in numerous different flavors or aromas, including the so-called medicated variety (nasal snuff made with a scent basis of menthol, camphor, or eucalyptus). Other scent varieties of European-style snuff include gourmand snuff–scented with the aromas of foodstuffs—and SP snuff—often featuring a mixture of bergamot and citrus, as well as sometimes floral notes–the meaning of the acronym SP being unknown.
Nasal snuff comes in several consistencies, or "grinds", depending on how finely pulverized the tobacco leaves used to produce snuff are rendered: fine ( fin), medium-fine to medium ( demi-gros), and coarse ( gros).
Levels of moisture may differ between varieties and brands of snuff, and between particular snuff products. Snuffs also differ in color, ranging from green to various shades of tan or brown to black or near-black.
It has been claimed that European-style nasal snuff originated in the U.K. town of Great Harwood, and was famously ground in the town's monument prior to local distribution and transport farther north to Scotland.
European (dry) snuff is mainly produced by the following brands: Toque Tobacco (UK), Bernards (Germany), Fribourg & Treyer (UK), Gawith (UK), Gawith Hoggarth (UK), Hedges (UK), Lotzbeck (Germany), McChrystal's (UK), Pöschl (Germany), Toque (UK), and Wilsons of Sharrow (UK).
Some well-known brands of American (dry) snuff are Carhart's CC, Peach Sweet, and Tube Rose.
Generally, a small portion of dry snuff is either pinched between the fingers (usually the thumb and forefinger) or laid out on the wrist (the anatomical snuffbox) of the user, from where it is sniffed. Other methods of taking snuff include using a device called a snuff bullet; the "boxcar method"—by which the user places snuff upon the tip of their thumbnail while it is tucked into the curled index finger—which allows the user to take a larger amount of snuff; utilizing a snuff ejector; snuffing snuff directly from a snuff spoon; and sniffing snuff through a special tube called a sniffer.
Tobacciana associated with nasal snuff use include snuff containers, whether totally sealable (such as , , snuff horns, snuff jars, and snuff tubes (snuff cylinders)) or containing an opening from which to take snuff (such as snuff bullets and snuff ejectors); and other accoutrements to augment or ease the process of, and hygiene surrounding, snuff use (such as , sniffing tubes (sniffers), and snuff spoons).
While the use of nasal snuff—namely its habitual or repeated use—is typically not implicated in the development of lung cancer, it is known to be associated with an increased risk of developing cancers of the nasal cavity and nostrils, as well as those of the pancreas, throat cancer, and oral cancer. However, a 2012 German research study on risk factors for nasal Malignancy among German men found that cigarette smoking potentially increases the likelihood of developing nasal cancer more than the use of nasal snuff. Additionally, according to a letter written by L.M. Ramström, the director of the Institute for Tobacco Studies in Stockholm, and published in the British Dental Journal, the 2016 update to the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) found that the Relative risk (RRs) for developing oral and esophageal cancer due to the use of chewing tobacco were "significantly higher" than those associated with nasal snuff use; regarding both nasal snuff and snus use, researchers, via the GBD update, stated, "We did not find sufficient evidence of a RR greater than one for any health outcome."
FUBAR, a brand of Indian nasal snuff sold by the online snuff outlet MrSnuff, produces an herbal nasal snuff alterative infused with nicotine.
Moist snuff, a product of American origin, is synonymous with dipping tobacco or dip.
Kinds of chewing tobacco can broadly be divided into types from the Western world and those of Eastern origin, namely from the Indian subcontinent.
Modern American-style chewing tobacco (colloquially known as chew or chaw, especially in the American South and Midwest) is produced from cured and often fermented tobacco, usually dampened and mixed with some type of sweetener. (Often molasses.) Twist tobacco may be an exception in this case, as many brands of twist are not sweetened.
In using chewing tobacco—at least types other than tobacco pellets—the consumer usually deposits the tobacco between the cheek and teeth and lightly macerates and sucks the tobacco to allow its juices to flow. Thus when chewing, it is common to spit and discard excess saliva caused by the release of juices from the tobacco, justifying the existence of the spittoon, or cuspidor.
The popularity of American-style chewing tobacco and the associated spittoon reached its height in the American Midwest during the late 19th century; however, as cigarettes became the predominant form of tobacco consumption the spittoon gradually fell into disuse across the United States. While spittoons are often a rarity in modern society, loose leaf chewing tobacco can still be purchased at many convenience stores or from tobacconists throughout the United States and Canada.
Chewing tobacco endemic to the Western world is manufactured in several forms:
Loose leaf chewing tobacco, also known as scrap, is perhaps the most common contemporary form of American-style chewing tobacco. It consists of cut or shredded strips of tobacco leaf, and is usually sold in sealed pouches or bags lined with foil. Often sweetened, loose leaf chew may have a tacky texture. (Though there are also unflavored or "natural" loose leaf chews. However, these are far less common.) Popular, modern brands of scrap sold in North America include America's Best Chew, Levi Garrett, Jackson's Apple Jack (made by Swisher International), Beech-Nut (formerly made by Lorillard; now Reynolds American), and Stoker's.
Pellets or bits consist of tobacco rolled into small pellets. They are often packaged in portable tins. Tobacco pellets are used in the same manner as snus, in that they are placed between the lip and gum, and that spitting is typically unnecessary. It is suggested that the user may periodically chew the pellets lightly in order to release additional juice, flavor, and/or nicotine. Tobacco bits are almost exclusively produced under the Oliver Twist and Piccanell brands. They are thus—like snus—preponderant in the region.
Plug tobacco is made up of tobacco leaves that have been pressed together and bound by some type of sweetener, resulting in a dense, square tobacco mass. (Some compare the look of plug tobacco to a brownie or similar pastry.) One can then bite directly from the mass or slice the tobacco into portions. Some types of plug may either be chewed or smoked in a tobacco pipe, and some are exclusive to one method of consumption or the other.
Plug tobacco was once a much more common product, available to many American consumers during the 19th century. Two tobacco companies that historically manufactured plug are Liggett Group and Lorillard. (The latter was known for its Climax brand of plug.)
Modern brands of chewing plug include "rustic" and simple packaging, as is the case with popular plugs like Apple Sun Cured, Brown's Mule, Cannon Ball, Cup, Days Work, and Days O Work. Some well-known loose leaf chewing tobacco brands, such as America's Best Chew and Levi Garrett, also have their own versions of plug tobacco.
Chewing tobacco sticks are tightly bound rolls or "sticks" of chewable tobacco, usually sold in pouches. Brands include the German Grimm und Triepel and the Brazilian La Corona.
Twist or rope tobacco is made up of rope-like strands of tobacco that have been twisted together and cured in that position, afterwards being cut. Some types of twist may either be chewed or smoked in a tobacco pipe, and some are exclusive to one method or the other.
Unlike other types of chewing tobacco, twist tobacco isn't always a sweetened product, and may be devoid of molasses.
Different types of chewing tobacco are endemic to various parts of India and the surrounding regions:
Gutkha (also transliterated gutka) is a chewing tobacco product popular in India and surrounding regions.
It is a mixture of , tobacco, paraffin wax, catechu, and slaked lime. It is similar to mava.
Mava (also transliterated mawa) is a chewing tobacco product popular in Gujarat, India, made with a mixture of betel nut, calcium carbonate and flavoured tobacco. It is also known faki or masala. It is similar to gutkha.
Tambaku paan is a type of paan with tobacco. It contains many of the same ingredients as gutkha.
Instead of literally chewing on dipping tobacco, as is the case with chewing tobacco, a small clump of dip is "pinched" out of its container and placed between the lower or upper lip and gums. While it is most common to place the tobacco between the lower lip and gums, utilizing the upper lip for this purpose—in a manner more common to snus—is known as an "upper decker".
In modern times, dipping tobacco is usually packaged in metal or plastic tins, sometimes with the addition of fiberboard. Some brands are packaged into "tubs", or deeper hand-held containers.
Dipping tobacco comes in several varieties. Many dipping tobacco producers also manufacture pouches of dipping tobacco, making the habit cleaner and more convenient. The following are standard cut sizes, but some brands can still vary in size.
Extra long cuts are the longest cut size. Copenhagen and Grizzly both make an extra long cut natural variety.
Wide cuts have thicker strands than all other cuts of dipping tobacco. Currently, wide cut is only manufactured by Grizzly.
Long cuts are easier to manage than fine cuts (a smaller granular sized dip - in regard to ease of grabbing the tobacco and keeping it comfortably in mouth). This is the most common cut of tobacco.
Mid cut sized dipping tobacco is comparable to small granules at about 1 mm cubed. A couple of mid cuts were on the smokeless tobacco market but have since been discontinued.
Fine cut comes in granules slightly larger than sand or coffee grounds.
Snuff or simply moist snuff looks similar to dirt or sand in terms of granular size. Extremely small cut.
Pouches hold fine cut tobacco in a small teabag-like pouch for convenience. Pouches are typically about the same size, but one brand, Skoal, also offers a smaller pouch called Bandits.
Used by millions of adults, it is also marketed to children. Some packaging does not mention tobacco as an ingredient, and some brands are pitched as candies - featuring packaging with children's faces and are brightly colored. Some are chocolate-flavored, and some are marketed as breath fresheners.
Basque people angulero fishermen kill immature (elvers) in an infusion of tobacco leaves before them in salty water for transportation to market as angulas, a seasonal delicacy.
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