Tobacco

Tobacco is a leafy plant. It contains the drug, nicotine, which is highly addictive. Tobacco can be chewed or smoked to deliver the drug. Tobacco products include cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, snuff, and pipe tobacco. All tobacco products increase the risk of heart disease and cancer, usually of the lungs, mouth, or throat.

Tobacco farming was a cornerstone of the early economy of the American South. Many of the founding fathers were tobacco growers. Tobacco is a very labor intensive crop, and slaves were used to grow and process it.