Was tobacco really used as a medicine for that long?

Yes, for more than 250 years in Europe (16th-18th century), official medicine prescribed tobacco for migraines, toothache and even some fevers. A great mistake of medical history.

When did we start to know scientifically that cigarettes kill?

The first solid studies date from the 1950s (Doll and Hill in the UK, the British Doctors Study). Public-health certainty comes with the Surgeon General's report in 1964.

Why did the industry take so long to acknowledge the harm?

Because it actively fought to deny it. The Tobacco Papers (internal documents released in the 1990s) show they had known since the 1950s — and spent decades publishing internally funded counter-studies.

Did plain packaging really work?

Yes. Several studies (Australia, France, UK) show a measurable drop in brand attractiveness and youth initiation after its introduction.

What will the next big step be?

Probably a convergence around an objective of less than 5 % prevalence (the 'tobacco endgame') in several wealthy countries by 2030-2040. Routes diverge: a UK-style generational ban, big tax hikes, or strict regulation of new products.

A brief history of tobacco: from Christopher Columbus to plain packaging, 500 years of cigarettes

500 years of tobacco history, from a sacred plant of indigenous Americans to industrial cigarettes and plain packaging. An economic, health and political saga.

May 12, 2026 Aria

Five centuries. That is how long it took tobacco to go from a sacred plant of indigenous American peoples to an industrial product responsible for 8 million deaths a year. A saga where botany, religion, medicine, economics, marketing and politics intertwine. Here are the major milestones.

Before 1492: a sacred plant of the Americas

Tobacco use (Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana rustica) goes back about 3,000 years among indigenous American peoples. The Maya, the Aztecs, then the peoples of North America used it in ritual and therapeutic ways: smoked in pipes, chewed, used as an insecticide or as currency.

For many of these societies, tobacco is a plant of the spirits: it is used to commune with the 'Great Spirit', to seal agreements (the peace pipe), to heal. Its smoke is sacred — never trivial.

1492-1500s: the arrival in Europe

On 12 October 1492, Christopher Columbus's sailors land in San Salvador (today's Bahamas). Locals offer them dried leaves of 'petun'. A few days later, the crew watches the locals inhale the smoke of a burning plant — Europe discovers the cigarette, in a way.

The first seeds reach Europe in 1518-1520. At first, tobacco is grown as an ornamental plant in the royal gardens of Spain and Portugal.

16th century: Jean Nicot and the 'Queen's Herb'

In 1560, Jean Nicot, France's ambassador in Portugal, sends tobacco leaves to the French queen Catherine de Medici to ease the migraines of her son, the future François II. It works (or at least she thinks so). The queen orders it grown in Brittany, Gascony and Alsace. It is called 'Queen's Herb' or 'Catherinaire'.

The Court takes up the fashion, the people follow. In 1622, the German doctor Johannes Neander publishes Tabacologia, the first scholarly treatise — which still praises the medicinal virtues of tobacco.

Whatever Aristotle and all of Philosophy may say, there is nothing equal to tobacco: it is the passion of all decent men, and whoever lives without tobacco is not worthy of living.

Molière

Dom Juan, 1665

17th-18th centuries: pipe, snuff, and the first taxes

In the 17th century, pipe and snuff dominate. The state quickly grasps the fiscal opportunity: Colbert introduces a state tobacco monopoly in France as early as 1674. The royal coffers benefit nicely.

Doctors begin to doubt. In the 18th century, some practitioners already point to 'apoplectic accidents' and 'tumours of the lips' in heavy smokers. But these voices remain isolated.

1809: nicotine isolated

In 1809, the French chemist Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin isolates the main alkaloid of tobacco. To honour Jean Nicot, it is named nicotine. The scientific debate begins: a powerful, potentially toxic substance. But these findings do not stop consumption from growing.

19th century: the birth of the cigarette

The cigarette in the modern sense (tobacco rolled in fine paper) appears in Spain in the early 19th century, then spreads. British soldiers in the Crimean War (1853-1856) bring it back in their bags, after copying Turkish and Russian habits.

1881 James Bonsack invents the first cigarette-rolling machine. It produces 120,000 cigarettes a day — equivalent to the manual work of 50 workers. The industrial cigarette is born. So is mass addiction.

Tobacco industry history, 19th-20th century

20th century: the golden age and the first doubts

The cigarette becomes a social symbol in the 20th century. The two world wars turn soldiers into regular consumers (cigarettes were included in rations). Hollywood makes it a glamour accessory. The 1950s mark the peak: in the United States, more than 50 % of adult men smoke.

And then, science catches up:

21st century: taxes, plain packaging and a smoke-free generation

Public policy gets tougher in wealthy countries. Taxes rise (a pack went from 3 € in 2000 to 13 € in 2026 in France). Smoke-free spaces spread (bars in 2008, café terraces under way).

Meanwhile, in the poorer countries…

While wealthy countries tighten their laws, the tobacco industry concentrates its marketing on South-East Asia, Africa and parts of Latin America. Result: 80 % of smokers today live in low- or middle-income countries.

New products, already?

The story is not over. Since 2010, the industry keeps reinventing:

E-cigarettes (since 2003).
Heated tobacco (IQOS launched in 2014).
Tobacco-free nicotine pouches (ZYN, Velo) booming since 2020.
Disposable vapes (puffs), quickly regulated.

Every wave raises the same questions: a way to quit, or a new entry point? The debate is open.

In United Kingdom

Your questions

Was tobacco really used as a medicine for that long?

Yes, for more than 250 years in Europe (16th-18th century), official medicine prescribed tobacco for migraines, toothache and even some fevers. A great mistake of medical history.
When did we start to know scientifically that cigarettes kill?

The first solid studies date from the 1950s (Doll and Hill in the UK, the British Doctors Study). Public-health certainty comes with the Surgeon General's report in 1964.
Why did the industry take so long to acknowledge the harm?

Because it actively fought to deny it. The Tobacco Papers (internal documents released in the 1990s) show they had known since the 1950s — and spent decades publishing internally funded counter-studies.
Did plain packaging really work?

Yes. Several studies (Australia, France, UK) show a measurable drop in brand attractiveness and youth initiation after its introduction.
What will the next big step be?

Probably a convergence around an objective of less than 5 % prevalence (the 'tobacco endgame') in several wealthy countries by 2030-2040. Routes diverge: a UK-style generational ban, big tax hikes, or strict regulation of new products.

sources

Proctor RN, Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition, University of California Press, 2011.
WHO, WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, 2003.
Doll R, Hill AB, Smoking and carcinogenesis of the lung, BMJ, 1950.
US Surgeon General, Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee, 1964.