Where it Started

Smoking has been around for thousands of years. Herbs and a variety of leaves were first smoked in the Americas, India, and South Asia. Many people smoked as early as 5000 B.C. Smoking was for fun, medicine, and religion. People first smoked tobacco by, “clay pipes, which held sway until the late 19th century. At first these had tiny bowls but as tobacco got cheaper the bowls got larger” (BBC). Early civilizations smoked by heating rocks and burning leaves, they used wooden and clay pipes as well. (NASEM)