Cigarette
Encyclopedia
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...

. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder
Smoulder
Smouldering is the slow, low-temperature, flameless form of combustion, sustained by the heat evolved when oxygen directly attacks the surface of a condensed-phase fuel...

; its smoke is inhaled
Inhalation
Inhalation is the movement of air from the external environment, through the air ways, and into the alveoli....

 from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder
Cigarette holder
A cigarette holder is a fashion accessory, a slender tube in which a cigarette is held for smoking. Most frequently made of silver, jade or bakelite , cigarette holders were considered an essential part of ladies' fashion from the mid-1910s through the early-1970s, and are still widely popular...

 may be used as well. Most modern manufactured cigarettes are filtered
Cigarette filter
A cigarette filter has the purpose of reducing the amount of smoke, tar, and fine particles inhaled during the combustion of a cigarette. Filters also reduce the harshness of the smoke and keep tobacco flakes out of the smoker's mouth.-History:...

 and include reconstituted tobacco and other additives.

The term cigarette, as commonly used, refers to a tobacco cigarette but can apply to similar devices containing other herbs, such as cloves or cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...

. A cigarette is distinguished from a cigar by its smaller size, use of processed leaf, and paper wrapping, which is normally white, though other colors are occasionally available. Cigars are typically composed entirely of whole-leaf tobacco.

Rates of cigarette smoking vary widely, and have changed considerably over the course of history — since cigarettes were first widely used in the mid-20th century. While rates of smoking have over time leveled off or declined in the developed world, they continue to rise in developing nations. Nicotine
Nicotine
Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants that constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of the dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots and accumulation occurring in the leaves...

, the primary psychoactive chemical in tobacco and therefore cigarettes, is addictive
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...

. About half of cigarette smokers die of tobacco-related disease and lose on average 14 years of life. Cigarette use by pregnant women has also been shown to cause birth defects, including mental and physical disabilities. Secondhand smoke from cigarettes has been shown to be injurious to bystanders, which has led to legislation that has banned their smoking in many workplaces and public areas. New research has shown that thirdhand smoke, which is the residue of cigarette chemicals left on clothes, furniture and carpets after second hand smoke has gone, increases the probability of lung-related diseases.
Cigarettes are the most frequent source of fires leading to loss of lives in private homes, which has prompted the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 to ban cigarettes that are not fire standard compliant by 2011.

History

The earliest forms of cigarettes were largely indistinguishable from their predecessor, the cigar. Cigarettes have been attested in Central America around the 9th century in the form of reeds and smoking tubes. The Maya
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...

, and later the Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...

s, smoked tobacco and various psychoactive drugs in religious rituals and frequently depicted priests and deities smoking on pottery and temple engravings. The cigarette and the cigar were the most common methods of smoking in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central and South America until recent times.

The South and Central American cigarette used various plant wrappers; when it was brought back to Spain, maize wrappers were introduced, and by the 17th century, fine paper. The resulting product was called papelate and is documented in Goya's paintings La Cometa, La Merienda en el Manzanares, and El juego de la pelota a pala (18th century).

By 1830, the cigarette had crossed into France, where it received the name cigarette; and in 1845, the French state tobacco monopoly began manufacturing them.

In the English-speaking world, the use of tobacco in cigarette form became increasingly popular during and after the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

, when British soldiers began emulating their Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...

 comrades and Russian enemies, who had begun rolling and smoking tobacco in strips of old newspaper for lack of proper cigar-rolling leaf. This was helped by the development of tobaccos that are suitable for cigarette use, and by the development of the Egyptian cigarette export industry
Egyptian cigarette industry
The Egyptian cigarette industry, during the period between the 1880s and the end of the First World War, was a major export industry that influenced global fashion...

.
Cigarettes may have been initially used in a manner similar to pipes and cigars and not inhaled; for evidence, see the Lucky Strike ad campaign asking
consumers "Do You Inhale?" from the 30's. As cigarette tobacco became milder and more acidic inhaling may have become more agreeable. On the other hand, Moltke
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke was a German Field Marshal. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as one of the great strategists of the latter 19th century, and the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field...

 noticed in the 1830s (cf. Unter dem Halbmond) that Ottomans (and he himself) inhaled the Turkish tobacco
Turkish tobacco
Turkish tobacco or Oriental tobacco is a highly aromatic, small-leafed variety of tobacco which is sun-cured. Historically, it was cultivated primarily in Thrace and Macedonia, now divided among Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey, but it is now also grown on the Black Sea...

 and Latakia
Latakia (tobacco)
Latakia tobacco is a specially prepared tobacco originally produced in Syria and named after the port city of Latakia. Now the tobacco is mainly produced in Cyprus. It is initially sun-cured like other Turkish tobaccos and then further cured over a pine or oak wood fire, which gives it an intense...

 from their pipes (which are both initially sun-cured, acidic leaf varieties).

The widespread smoking of cigarettes in the Western world is largely a 20th century phenomenon – at the start of the century the per capita annual consumption in the USA was 54 cigarettes (with less than 0.5% of the population smoking more than 100 cigarettes per year), and consumption there peaked at 4,259 per capita in 1965. At that time about 50% of men and 33% of women smoked (defined as smoking more than 100 cigarettes per year). By 2000, consumption had fallen to 2,092 per capita, corresponding to about 30% of men and 22% of women smoking more than 100 cigarettes per year, and by 2006 per capita consumption had declined to 1,691; implying that about 21% of the population smoked 100 cigarettes or more per year.

German Doctors were the first to identify the link between smoking and lung cancer which led to the first anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany
Anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany
After German doctors became the first to identify the link between smoking and lung cancer, Nazi Germany initiated a strong anti-tobacco movement and led the first public anti-smoking campaign in modern history...

. During World War I and World War II, cigarettes were rationed to soldiers. During the Vietnam War, cigarettes were included with C-ration
C-ration
The C-Ration, or Type C ration, was an individual canned, pre-cooked, or prepared wet ration intended to be issued to U.S. military land forces when fresh food or packaged unprepared food prepared in mess halls or field kitchens was impractical or not available, and when a survival ration was...

 meals. It was only in 1975 that the government quit putting cigarettes in military rations. During the second half of the 20th century, the adverse health effects
Health effects of tobacco smoking
The health effects of tobacco are the circumstances, mechanisms, and factors of tobacco consumption on human health. Epidemiological research has been focused primarily on cigarette tobacco smoking, which has been studied more extensively than any other form of consumption.Tobacco is the single...

 of cigarettes started to become widely known and text-only health warnings became commonplace on cigarette packets. Warnings became prevalent but unpopular, mainly due to the political influences held by tobacco growers. The United States has not yet implemented graphical cigarette warning labels, which are considered a more effective method to communicate to the public the dangers of cigarette smoking. Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Malaysia, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 however, have both textual warnings and graphic visual images displaying, among other things, the damaging effects tobacco use has on the human body.

The cigarette has evolved much since its conception; for example, the thin bands that travel transverse to the "axis of smoking" (thus forming circles along the length of the cigarette) are alternate sections of thin and thick paper to facilitate effective burning when being drawn, and retard burning when at rest. Synthetic particulate filters remove some of the tar before it reaches the smoker.

Manufacturing

Modern commercially manufactured cigarettes are seemingly simple objects consisting mainly of a tobacco blend, paper, PVA
Polyvinyl acetate
Polyvinyl acetate, PVA, PVAc, poly, is a rubbery synthetic polymer with the formula n. It belongs to the polyvinyl esters family with the general formula -[RCOOCHCH2]-...

 glue to bond the outer layer of paper together, and often also a cellulose acetate
Cellulose acetate
Cellulose acetate , first prepared in 1865, is the acetate ester of cellulose. Cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, as a component in some adhesives, and as a frame material for eyeglasses; it is also used as a synthetic fiber and in the manufacture of cigarette filters and...

–based filter. While the assembly of cigarettes is straightforward, much focus is given to the creation of each of the components, in particular the tobacco blend, which may contain over 600 ingredients, many of them flavoring for the tobacco. A key ingredient that makes cigarettes more addictive is the inclusion of reconstituted tobacco, which has additives to make nicotine more volatile as the cigarette burns.

Paper

The paper for holding the tobacco blend may vary in porosity to allow ventilation of the burning ember or contain materials that control the burning rate of the cigarette and stability of the produced ash. The papers used in tipping the cigarette (forming the mouthpiece) and surrounding the filter stabilize the mouthpiece from saliva and moderate the burning of the cigarette as well as the delivery of smoke with the presence of one or two rows of small laser-drilled air holes.

According to Simon Chapman, a professor of public health at the University of Sydney, the burning agents in cigarette paper are responsible for fires and reducing them would be a simple and effective means of dramatically reducing the ignition propensity of cigarettes. Since the 1980s, prominent cigarette manufacturers such as Philip Morris
Philip Morris USA
Philip Morris USA is the United States tobacco division of Altria Group, Inc. Philip Morris USA brands include Marlboro, Virginia Slims, Benson and Hedges, Merit, Parliament, Alpine, Basic, Cambridge, Bucks, Dave's, Chesterfield, Collector's Choice, Commander, English Ovals, Lark, L&M, Players and...

 and R.J. Reynolds
R.J. Reynolds
Richard Joshua "R. J." Reynolds was an American businessman and founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company....

 developed fire-safe cigarettes but did not market them.

The burn rate of cigarette paper is regulated through the application of different forms of micro crystalline cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....

 to the paper. Cigarette paper has been specially engineered by creating bands of different porosity to create "fire-safe" cigarettes. These cigarettes have a reduced idle burning speed which allows them to self-extinguish. This fire-safe paper is manufactured by mechanically altering the setting of the paper slurry.

New York was the first U.S. state to mandate that all cigarettes manufactured or sold within the state comply with a fire safe standard
Fire safe cigarettes
Fire safe cigarettes are cigarettes that are designed to extinguish more quickly than standard cigarettes, if ignored, with the intention of preventing accidental fires. These products are also known as Lower Ignition Propensity , Reduced Fire Risk , self-extinguishing, fire-safe or Reduced...

. Canada has passed a similar nation-wide mandate based on the same standard. All U.S. states are gradually passing fire-safe mandates.

European Union wishes to ban in 2011 cigarettes that are not fire-safe. According to a study made by European Union in 16 European countries, 11,000 fires were due to people carelessly handling cigarettes between 2005 and 2007. This caused 520 deaths and 1600 people injured.

Tobacco blend

The process of blending gives the end product a consistent taste from batches of tobacco grown in different areas of a country that may change in flavor profile from year to year due to different environmental conditions.

Modern cigarettes produced after the 1950s, although composed mainly of shredded tobacco leaf, use a significant quantity of tobacco processing by-products in the blend. Each cigarette's tobacco blend is made mainly from the leaves of flue-cured brightleaf, burley tobacco, and oriental tobacco. These leaves are selected, processed, and aged prior to blending and filling. The processing of brightleaf and burley tobaccos for tobacco leaf "strips" produces several by-products such as leaf stems, tobacco dust, and tobacco leaf pieces ("small laminate"). To improve the economics of producing cigarettes, these by-products are processed separately into forms where they can then be possibly added back into the cigarette blend without an apparent or marked change in the cigarette's quality. The most common tobacco by-products include:
  • Blended leaf (BL) sheet: a thin, dry sheet cast from a paste made with tobacco dust collected from tobacco stemming, finely milled burley-leaf stem, and pectin
    Pectin
    Pectin is a structural heteropolysaccharide contained in the primary cell walls of terrestrial plants. It was first isolated and described in 1825 by Henri Braconnot...

    .
  • Reconstituted leaf (RL) sheet: a paper-like material made from recycled tobacco fines, tobacco stems and "class tobacco", which consists of tobacco particles less than 30 mesh
    Mesh (scale)
    Mesh material is often used in determining the particle size distribution of a granular material. For example, a sample from a truckload of peanuts may be placed atop a mesh with 5 mm openings. When the mesh is shaken, small broken pieces and dust pass through the mesh while whole peanuts are...

     in size (~0.599 mm) that are collected at any stage of tobacco processing. RL is made by extracting the soluble chemicals in the tobacco by-products, processing the leftover tobacco fibers from the extraction into a paper, and then reapplying the extracted materials in concentrated form onto the paper in a fashion similar to what is done in paper sizing
    Sizing
    Sizing or size is any one of numerous specific substances that is applied to or incorporated in other material, especially papers and textiles, to act as a protecting filler or glaze....

    . At this stage ammonium
    Ammonium
    The ammonium cation is a positively charged polyatomic cation with the chemical formula NH. It is formed by the protonation of ammonia...

     additives are applied to make reconstituted tobacco an effective nicotine delivery system.
  • Expanded (ES) or improved stems (IS): ES are rolled, flattened, and shredded leaf stems that are expanded by being soaked in water and rapidly heated. Improved stems follow the same process but are simply steamed after shredding. Both products are then dried. These two products look similar in appearance but are different in taste.


In recent years, the manufacturers' pursuit of maximum profits has led to the practice of using not just the leaves, but also recycled tobacco offal and the plant stem. The stem is first crushed and cut to resemble the leaf before being merged or blended into the cut leaf.
According to data from the World Health Organization, the amount of tobacco per 1000 cigarettes fell from 2.28 pounds in 1960 to 0.91 pounds in 1999, largely as a result of reconstituting tobacco, fluffing and additives.

A recipe-specified combination of brightleaf, burley-leaf and oriental-leaf tobacco will be mixed with various additives to improve its flavours.

Additives

Various additives are combined into the shredded tobacco product mixtures, with humectant
Humectant
A humectant is a hygroscopic substance. It is often a molecule with several hydrophilic groups, most often hydroxyl groups, but amines and carboxyl groups, sometimes esterified, can be encountered as well; the affinity to form hydrogen bonds with molecules of water is crucial here.Since...

s such as propylene glycol
Propylene glycol
Propylene glycol, also called 1,2-propanediol or propane-1,2-diol, is an organic compound with formula C3H8O2 or HO-CH2-CHOH-CH3...

 or glycerol
Glycerol
Glycerol is a simple polyol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations. Glycerol has three hydroxyl groups that are responsible for its solubility in water and its hygroscopic nature. The glycerol backbone is central to all lipids...

, as well as flavouring products and enhancers such as cocoa solids
Cocoa solids
Cocoa solids are the low-fat component of chocolate. When sold as an end product, it may also be called cocoa powder, cocoa, and cacao....

, licorice, tobacco extracts, and various sugars, which are known collectively as "casings". The leaf tobacco will then be shredded, along with a specified amount of small laminate, expanded tobacco, BL, RL, ES and IS. A perfume-like flavour/fragrance, called the "topping" or "toppings", which is most often formulated by flavor companies, will then be blended into the tobacco mixture to improve the consistency in flavour and taste of the cigarettes associated with a certain brand name
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...

. Additionally, they replace lost flavours due to the repeated wetting and drying used in processing the tobacco. Finally the tobacco mixture will be filled into cigarettes tubes and packaged.

A list of 599 cigarette additives, created by five major American cigarette companies, were approved by the Dept. of Health and Human Services in April 1994. None of these additives are listed as ingredients on the cigarette pack(s). Chemicals are added for organoleptic purposes and many boost the addictive properties of cigarettes, especially when burned.

One of the chemicals on the list, ammonia
Ammonia
Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...

, helps convert bound nicotine molecules in tobacco smoke into free nicotine molecules. This process is known as freebasing which enhances the effect of the nicotine on the smoker.

Taxation

Cigarettes are a significant source of tax revenue in many localities. This fact has historically been an impediment for health groups seeking to discourage cigarette smoking, since governments seek to maximize tax revenues. Furthermore, some countries have made cigarettes a state monopoly, which has the same effect on the attitude of government officials outside the health field. In the United States, cigarettes are taxed substantially, but the states are a primary determinant of the total tax rate. Generally, states that rely on tobacco as a significant farm product tend to tax cigarettes at a low rate. It has been shown that higher prices for cigarettes discourage smoking. Every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduced youth smoking
Youth Smoking
Youth smoking is an issue that affects countries worldwide. While not every culture views youth smoking as an issue that needs to be addressed, the U.S. has taken drastic measure in an attempt to reduce and eventually eliminate use of tobacco products among teens...

 by about seven percent and overall cigarette consumption by about four percent. Thus increased cigarette taxes are proposed as a means to reduce smoking. Coupled with the federal cigarette tax of $1.01 per pack, total cigarette-specific taxes range from $1.18 per pack in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 to $6.86 per pack in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. States also charge sizable settlement payments to tobacco companies, and the federal government levies user fees to fund FDA
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...

 regulatory measures over tobacco. While these charges are not cigarette-specific, tobacco companies are ultimately forced to pass on those costs to their consumers. Lastly, most jurisdictions apply sales tax to the full retail price of cigarettes.

In the UK, many people now illegally import cigarettes, or buy those illegally imported, due to the increasing tax. A pack is less than half the price in some other countries, making illegal importers a large profit, while still providing comparatively very cheap cigarettes. The average price for 20 legal cigarettes is between £5.00 and £6.00, while imported packs are sold for less than £3; this is due to the fact that the large majority of the sale price of a legitimate pack is tax.

Sales

Cigarette advertising

Before the Second World War many manufacturers gave away collectible cards, one in each packet of cigarettes. This practice was discontinued to save paper during the war and was never generally reintroduced, though for a number of years Natural American Spirit
Natural American Spirit
Natural American Spirit is a brand of cigarette and tobacco products manufactured in the United States by the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, a wholly owned independent subsidiary of Reynolds American, in turn 42% owned by British American Tobacco...

 cigarettes included "vignette" cards depicting endangered animals and American historical events; this series was discontinued in 2003. On April 1, 1970 President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

 signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act
Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act
The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act is a United States federal law, passed in 1970, designed to limit the practice of smoking. It required a stronger health warning on cigarette packages, saying "Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined that Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health"...

 into law, banning cigarette advertisements
Tobacco advertising
Tobacco advertising is the advertising of tobacco products or use by the tobacco industry through a variety of media including sponsorship, particularly of sporting events. It is now one of the most highly regulated forms of marketing...

 on television in the United States starting on January 2, 1971. However, some tobacco companies attempted to circumvent the ban by marketing new brands of cigarettes as "little cigars"; examples included Tijuana Smalls
Tijuana Smalls
Tijuana Smalls are a brand of cigarette that was produced after a prohibition on advertising cigarettes on television in the United States was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. They were advertised as "Little Cigars"...

, which came out almost immediately after the ban took effect, and Backwoods Smokes
Backwoods Smokes
Backwoods Smokes were a brand of cigarettes produced in the United States beginning in 1973. This product was notable during the 1970s and 1980s for heavy advertising, which became one of the more obvious examples of how companies at the time reacted to changing laws and cultural views on public...

, which reached the market in the winter of 1973–1974 and whose ads used the slogan, "How can anything that looks so wild taste so mild." Many of these types of slogans were used to assist in the manufacturing of cigarettes. These slogans helped the image of smoking cigarettes to look "cool" and they enhanced consumer spending on cigarettes.

In many parts of the world tobacco advertising
Tobacco advertising
Tobacco advertising is the advertising of tobacco products or use by the tobacco industry through a variety of media including sponsorship, particularly of sporting events. It is now one of the most highly regulated forms of marketing...

 and sponsorship has been outlawed. The ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship in the EU in 2005 has prompted Formula One Management to look for races in areas that allow the tobacco sponsored teams to display their livery
Livery
A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...

. As of 2007, only the Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

 retains tobacco sponsorship, continuing their relationship with Marlboro until 2011. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, bolder advertising restrictions took effect on June 22, 2010.

In some jurisdictions, such as the Canadian provinces of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

 and Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, the retail store display of cigarettes is completely prohibited if persons under the legal age of consumption have access to the premises. In Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

, The ACT
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

, and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada, the display of tobacco is prohibited for everyone, regardless of age, as of 2010. This includes non-cigarette products such as cigars and blunt wraps.

Purchase restrictions

Beginning on April 1, 1998, the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to people under the state purchase age has been prohibited by law in all 50 states of the United States. The age is 19 in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, and Nassau
Nassau County, New York
Nassau County is a suburban county on Long Island, east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,339,532...

, Suffolk
Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...

, and Onondaga counties in New York. The intended effect of this is to prevent older high school students from purchasing cigarettes for their younger peers. Legislation was pending as of 2004 in some other states. In Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, parents and guardians are allowed to give cigarettes to minors, but sales to minors are prohibited.

Similar laws exist in many other countries. In Canada, most of the provinces require smokers to be 19 years of age to purchase cigarettes (except for Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 and the prairie provinces, where the age is 18). However, the minimum age only concerns the purchase of tobacco, not use. Alberta, however, does have a law which prohibits the possession or use of tobacco products by all persons under 18, punishable by a $100 fine. Australia, New Zealand, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 have a nationwide ban on the selling of all tobacco products to people under the age of 18.

Since 1 October 2007, it has been illegal for retailers to sell tobacco in all forms to people under the age of 18 in three of the UK's four constituent countries (England, Wales and Scotland) (rising from 16). It is also illegal to sell lighters, rolling papers and all other tobacco-associated items to people under 18. It is not illegal for people under 18 to buy or smoke tobacco, just as it was not previously for people under 16; it is only illegal for the said retailer to sell the item. The age increase from 16 to 18 came into force in Northern Ireland on 1 September 2008. In the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, bans on the sale of the smaller ten-packs and confectionery that resembles tobacco products (Candy cigarettes) came into force on May 31, 2007 in a bid to cut underaged smoking. The UK Department of Health
Department of Health (United Kingdom)
The Department of Health is a department of the United Kingdom government with responsibility for government policy for health and social care matters and for the National Health Service in England along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish,...

 plans to follow suit with the ten-pack ban.

Most countries in the world have a legal vending age of 18. Some exceptions are Italy, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, the Netherlands and Gibraltar, where the age is 16. Since January 1, 2007, all cigarette machines in public places in Germany must attempt to verify a customer's age by requiring the insertion of a debit card
Debit card
A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...

. Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, which has one of the highest percentage of smokers in its population, has a legal age of 18. Another curiosity is Japan, one of the highest tobacco-consuming nations, which requires purchasers to be 20 years of age (suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...

 in Japan is 20 years old). Since July 2008, Japan has enforced this age limit at cigarette vending machines through use of the taspo
Taspo
, formerly known as , is a smart card using RFIDdeveloped by the Tobacco Institute of Japan , the , and the for introduction in 2008. Following its introduction, the card is necessary in order to purchase cigarettes from vending machines in Japan. The name "Taspo" is a portmanteau for .The group...

 smart card
Smart card
A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...

. In other countries, such as Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, it is legal to use and purchase tobacco products regardless of age. Germany raised the purchase age from 16 to 18 on the 1 September 2007.

Some police departments in the United States occasionally send an underaged teenager into a store where cigarettes are sold, and have the teen attempt to purchase cigarettes, with their own or no ID. If the vendor then completes the sale, the store is issued a fine. Similar enforcement practices are regularly performed by Trading Standards
Trading Standards
Trading Standards is the name given to local authority departments in the UK formerly known as Weights and Measures. These departments investigate commercial organisations that carry out trade in unethical ways or outside the scope of the law.-History:...

 Officers in the UK and the Gardaí Siochana, the police force of the Republic of Ireland.

Consumption

As of 2002, approximately 5.5 trillion cigarettes are produced globally each year and are smoked by over 1.1 billion people or greater than one-seventh of the world population. While smoking rates have leveled off or declined in developed nations, they continue to rise in developing parts of the world. Smoking rates in the United States have dropped by half from 1965 to 2006 falling from 42% to 20.8% of adults. In the developing world, tobacco consumption is rising by 3.4% per year.
Smoking prevalence by gender (2000)
Percent smoking
Region Men Women
Africa 29% 4%
United States 35% 22%
Eastern Mediterranean 35% 4%
Europe 46% 26%
Southeast Asia 44% 4%
Western Pacific 60% 8%

Source: World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...

 estimates, 2000

Leading consumers of cigarettes (1998)
Country Population
(millions)
Cigarettes consumed
(billions)
Cigarettes consumed
(per capita)
China 1248 1643 1320
USA 270 451 1670
Japan 126 328 2600
Russia 146 258 1760
Indonesia 200 215 1070

Smoking prevalence in the U.S. (2006)
Rank State % Rank State % Rank State % Rank State %
1 KY 28.6 14 SC 22.3 27 KS 20.0 40 AZ 18.1
2 WV 25.7 15 NV 22.2 28 GA 20.0 41 VT 18.0
3 OK 25.7 16 NC 22.1 29 ND 19.6 42 DC 17.9
4 MS 25.1 17 DE 21.7 30 VA 19.3 43 CO 17.9
5 AK 24.2 18 WY 21.6 31 RI 19.3 44 MA 17.8
6 IN 24.1 19 PA 21.5 32 MT 19.0 45 MD 17.8
7 AR 23.7 20 IA 21.5 33 NH 18.7 46 HI 17.5
8 LA 23.4 21 FL 21.0 34 NE 18.6 47 WA 17.1
9 MO 23.3 22 ME 20.9 35 OR 18.5 48 CT 17.0
10 AL 23.3 23 WI 20.8 36 NY 18.3 49 ID 16.8
11 TN 22.6 24 IL 20.5 37 MN 18.3 50 CA 14.9
12 OH 22.5 25 SD 20.4 38 TX 18.1 51 UT 9.8
13 MI 22.4 26 NM 20.2 39 NJ 18.1

Health issues

Nicotine
Nicotine
Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants that constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of the dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots and accumulation occurring in the leaves...

, the primary psychoactive chemical in cigarettes, is addictive. Cigarette use by pregnant women has also been shown to cause birth defects (which include mental and physical disability). On average, each cigarette smoked shortens lifespan by 11 minutes and half of smokers die early of tobacco-related disease and lose, on average, 14 years of life.
Some of the mineral apatite in Florida used to produce phosphate for U.S.A. tobacco crops contains uranium, radium, lead 210 and polonium 210 and radon. The radioactive smoke from tobacco fertilized this way is deposited in lungs and releases radiation even if a smoker quits the habit. The combination of carcinogenic tar and radiation in a sensitive organ such as lungs increases the risk of cancer. If the smoker also breathes in the asbestos fibers which commonly occur in urban and industrial environments, the risk of cancer is greatly increased.

Health Risks Caused by Secondhand Cigarette Smoke

Cigarette smoke is also known as environmental tobacco smoke or passive smoke. It is a mixture of two forms of smoke that come from burning tobacco. This includes: side stream smoke—smoke that comes from the end of a lighted cigarette, pipe, or cigar—and mainstream smoke—smoke that is exhaled by a smoker. This mixture contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and about 70 that are cancer-causing. The side stream smoke contains higher concentrations of carcinogens than the mainstream smoke, and it contains smaller particles relative to mainstream smoke, which absorb into the body’s cells more easily.
Prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in nonsmokers and has also been associated with heart disease in adults. Sudden infant death syndrome, ear infections, respiratory infections, and asthma attacks can occur in children that are exposed to secondhand smoke. Scientific evidence shows that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

Warning messages in packages

Some countries require cigarette packs to contain warnings about health. The United States was the first, later followed by other countries including Canada, most of Europe, Australia, India, Hong Kong and Singapore. In December 2000, Canada became the first country to enforce graphic warning on cigarette packaging. And at end of December 2010 the new regulation from Ottawa is to increase size of tobacco warning to cover 3/4 of cigarette package. As of November 2010, 39 countries have adopted similar legislation.

On February 2011, Canadian government made a regulation that enforced cigarettes packages to contain 12 new images to cover 75 percent of the outside panel of cigarette packages and 8 new health messages in the inside panel with full color. Canada is the only country in the world that uses both sides of the panel.

April 2011: The world's toughest laws on packages came from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 have considered similar policy. All of the packages should be on a bland olive green covered 75 percent of the front of a pack and all of the back with graphic health warnings. The only things that differentiate one brand and another are just the brand and product name in a standard color, standard position and standard font size and style.
Concerning the regulation Philip Morris International
Philip Morris International
Philip Morris International is an international tobacco company, with products sold in over 160 countries. In 2007, it held a 15.6% share of the international cigarette market outside of the USA and reported revenues net of excise taxes of $22.8 billion and operating income of $8.9 billion.Until...

 is threatening to sue the Australian government, if the regulation still be applied due to Australia should protect foreign investors from discriminatory treatment. Australia is the first country to introduce plain, brand-free packaging for cigarettes.

Smoking bans

Many governments impose restrictions on smoking tobacco, especially in public areas. The primary justification has been the negative health effects of secondhand smoke. Laws vary by country and locality. See:
  • Smoking age
    Smoking age
    The minimum legal age to purchase cigarettes or tobacco products varies from country to country. Ages range from 14 to 21, but 18 tends to be the most common legal smoking age.-Asia:-Europe:-Australia:...

  • Smoking bans
  • Smoking bans by country
  • Smoking bans in private vehicles
    Smoking bans in private vehicles
    Smoking bans in private vehicles exist to protect passengers from secondhand smoke and to increase traffic security, e.g. by preventing the driver from being distracted by the act of smoking...


Cigarette butt

The common name for the remains of a cigarette after smoking is a "(cigarette) butt". The butt typically comprises about 30% of the cigarette's original length. It consists of a tissue tube which holds a filter
Cigarette filter
A cigarette filter has the purpose of reducing the amount of smoke, tar, and fine particles inhaled during the combustion of a cigarette. Filters also reduce the harshness of the smoke and keep tobacco flakes out of the smoker's mouth.-History:...

 and some remains of tobacco mixed with ash. Cigarette butts are the most numerically frequent litter in the world. Cigarette butts accumulate outside of buildings, on parking lots, and streets where they can be transported through storm drains to streams, rivers, and beaches. This can pose a danger to both aquatic ecosystems and urban wildlife.

Cigarette litter

Cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate
Cellulose acetate
Cellulose acetate , first prepared in 1865, is the acetate ester of cellulose. Cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, as a component in some adhesives, and as a frame material for eyeglasses; it is also used as a synthetic fiber and in the manufacture of cigarette filters and...

 and are biodegradable, though depending on environmental conditions they can be resistant to degradation. Accordingly, the duration of the degradation process is cited as taking as little as 1 month to 3 years to as long as 10–15 years. One campaign group has suggested they're never fully biodegraded.

This variance in rate and resistance to biodegradation in many conditions is a factor in littering and environmental damage. It is estimated that 4.5 trillion cigarette butts become litter every year. In the 2006 International Coastal Cleanup, cigarettes and cigarette butts constituted 24.7 percent of the total collected pieces of garbage, over twice as many as any other category.

Cigarette butts contain the chemicals filtered from cigarettes and can leach into waterways and water supplies
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...

. The toxicity of used cigarette butts depends on the brand design because cigarette companies incorporate varying degrees of chemicals in their tobacco blends. After a cigarette is smoked, the butt is capable of retaining some of the chemicals, and parts of them are carcinogenic. The results of one study indicate that the chemicals released into freshwater environments from cigarette butts are lethal to daphnia
Daphnia
Daphnia are small, planktonic crustaceans, between 0.2 and 5 mm in length. Daphnia are members of the order Cladocera, and are one of the several small aquatic crustaceans commonly called water fleas because of their saltatory swimming style...

 at concentrations of 0.125 cigarette butts per liter (or one cigarette butt per 8 liter).

Cellulose acetate and carbon particles breathed in from cigarette filters is suspected of causing lung damage.

Smoldering cigarette butts have also been blamed for triggering fires from residential fires to major wildfires and bushfires which have caused major property damage and also death as well as disruption to services by triggering alarms and warning systems.

Many governments have sanctioned stiff penalties for littering of cigarette butts; the U.S. state of Washington imposes a penalty of $1025.

Cigarette butts are one of the most commonly found litters on the street. Most high-rise littering also relates to cigarette butts.
There are several options that may help reduce the environmental impact that cigarette butts cause. This includes developing biodegradable filters, increasing fines and penalties for littering butts, implementing monetary deposits on filters, increasing the availability of butt receptacles, and expanding public education. It may even be possible to ban the sale of filtered cigarettes altogether on the basis of their adverse environmental impact.

Electronic cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes are nicotine delivery devices that closely resemble cigarettes but produce no smoke. The health effects of electronic cigarettes have been, and continue to be, heavily studied. These devices are illegal in some countries, such as Singapore. In other countries, these devices require government approval before these products can be sold, such as Canada and Denmark.

Notable cigarette brands

  • 520
    520 (cigarette)
    520 is a Taiwanese brand of cigarettes manufactured by the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation . The name 520 was chosen for the brand because it sounds similar to the words I love you when pronounced in Mandarin Chinese. It has a red heart-shaped hole in its filter, which releases a distinct...

  • 555
    State Express 555
    State Express 555 is a brand of cigarette manufactured by British American Tobacco. It was first launched in 1895 and is a very popular brand in Asia, especially China where it is BAT's most popular brand.-Sponsorship:...

  • Ashford
    Ashford (cigarette)
    Ashford is a brand of cigarettes, produced by Philip Morris. They are mainly popular in New Zealand, Australia and Canada.-External links:* *...

  • Army Club
    Army Club (cigarette)
    Army Club was a brand of cigarette distributed by Cavanders Ltd of London that was established in 1775.Advertising campaigns for this brand adopted the themes of nostalgia of wartime camaraderie and male culture....

  • Basic
    Basic (cigarette)
    Basic is a brand of lower-cost cigarettes manufactured by Philip Morris, a division of Altria Group., Basic is the fourth most popular cigarette brand in the United States and the second most popular among white smokers age 26 and older.Basic comes in several different varieties:*Red - Soft:...

  • Black Devils
  • Ruby
  • Smart
  • Bastos
  • Belemont
  • Benson & Hedges
    Benson & Hedges
    Benson & Hedges is a British brand of cigarettes owned by the Gallaher Group, which became a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco in 2007. They are registered in Old Bond Street in London, and are manufactured in Lisnafillen, Ballymena, Northern Ireland for the UK and Irish markets.-History:Benson & Hedges...

  • Camel
    Camel (cigarette)
    Camel is a brand of cigarettes that was introduced by American company R.J. Reynolds Tobacco in the summer of 1913. Most current Camel cigarettes contain a blend of Turkish tobacco and Virginia tobacco. Early in 2008 the blend was changed as was the package design.-History:In 1913, R.J...

  • Capri
    Capri (cigarette)
    ‎ Capri is a brand of cigarette manufactured by R.J. Reynolds. Introduced in 1987, it is the first widely-available cigarette having an extremely slim shape, at 17 mm in circumference and 100 mm in length, specifically marketed towards women as a way to increase or enhance their sexual...

  • Carlton (cigarette)
  • Chesterfield
    Chesterfield (cigarette)
    Chesterfield is a brand of cigarette made by Altria. It was one of the most recognized brands of the early 20th century, but sales have declined steadily over the years. It was named for Chesterfield County, Virginia. Chesterfield is still being made today; it is still popular in Europe, but has...

  • Davidoff
    Davidoff
    Davidoff is a Swiss luxury tobacco goods brand name, which is carried by a range of products including cigars, cigarettes and pipe tobaccos. Its cigarette brand is currently owned by Imperial Tobacco but the company is otherwise independently owned....

  • Dunhill
    Dunhill (cigarette)
    Dunhill cigarettes are a luxury brand of cigarettes made by the British American Tobacco company. They are usually priced above the average for cigarettes in the region where they are sold...

  • Djarum
    Djarum
    Djarum is an Indonesian kretek manufacturer and currently the third largest after Gudang Garam and HM Sampoerna. It was founded in 1951 by Oei Wie Gwan and has 2 headquarters in Indonesia and Malaysia.-History:...

  • Doral
    Doral (cigarette)
    Doral is a savings brand cigarette introduced in 1969 by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. It is available nationwide in the United States.Doral's current slogan is "Premium Taste, Guaranteed." An early slogan was "Taste me!"; this was lampooned by George Carlin in a stand-up routine.-Variations:All are...

  • du Maurier
    Du Maurier (cigarette)
    du Maurier is a Canadian-centric brand of cigarettes, produced by Imperial Tobacco Canada, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco. The brand is named after Sir Gerald du Maurier, a British actor and manager. The brand is also produced under license by the West Indian Tobacco Company in Trinidad...


  • Eclipse
    Eclipse (cigarette)
    Eclipse is an American cigarette brand that was developed and is marketed by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. They were first tested with consumers in 1994, and brought into limited market distribution in 2000. They contain a carbon tip, which when lit heats tobacco, giving off a vapor. Unlike in traditional...

  • Eve
    Eve (cigarette)
    Eve Cigarettes, are manufactured in the USA as a product of the Liggett Group, the smallest of the major U.S. tobacco companies, as well as in Germany, as a product of Philip Morris International. Within the USA, they were introduced in 1971 as competition for rival Philip Morris corporation's...

  • Export A
  • Fatima
    Fatima (cigarette)
    Fatima Cigarettes was a brand of cigarette produced in the United States by the Liggett & Myers tobacco company. The brand dates to the 19th century, and was marketed as an exotic blend of Turkish tobaccos. The name Fatima, a common Turkish or Arabic woman's name, helped bolster the Turkish image...

  • Fortuna
    Fortuna
    Fortuna can mean:*Fortuna, the Roman goddess of luck -Geographical:*19 Fortuna, asteroid*Fortuna, California, town located on the north coast of California*Fortuna, United States Virgin Islands...

  • Gauloises
    Gauloises
    Gauloises is a brand of cigarette of French manufacture. It is produced by the company Imperial Tobacco following their acquisition of Altadis in January 2008.- Cigarette :...

  • Gold Flake
    Gold Flake
    thumb|Bottom of Gold Flake Kings boxGold Flake is a widely-sold cigarette brand in India and Pakistan. It is sold in various varieties, including Gold Flake Kings , Gold Flake Kings Lights , Gold Flake and Gold Flake Lights. It is a well-positioned brand in India...

  • Kent
    Kent (cigarette)
    Kent is a brand of cigarettes. Kent's Micronite filter was introduced shortly after the publication of a series of articles in Reader's Digest in 1952 entitled "Cancer by the Carton", that scared American consumers into seeking out a filter brand at a time when most brands were filterless...

  • Kool
    KOOL (cigarette)
    KOOL is a brand of menthol cigarette currently produced by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, introduced in 1933, that has marketed itself towards the "sophisticated man". Originally introduced as an unfiltered "regular" size cigarette, filtered 85 mm king-size versions were later added to...

  • Lambert and Butler
  • L&M
    L&M
    Created by the company Liggett & Myers in 1953, L&M is a brand of cigarettes produced by Altria Group, Inc. . "L&M" is one of the earliest, perhaps the earliest brand to have a filter that was not a one sided filter...

  • Lark
    Lark (cigarette)
    Lark is a brand of cigarettes introduced in 1963 by Liggett & Myers and notable for its charcoal filter and past advertising campaigns, among which was one featuring people on the street being asked to "Show us your Lark pack".-Brand history and ownership:...

  • Lucky Strike
    Lucky Strike
    Lucky Strike is a brand of cigarette owned by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and British American Tobacco groups. Often referred to as "Luckies", Lucky Strike was the top selling cigarette in the United States during the 1930s.- History :...

  • Marlboro
  • Mayfair
    Mayfair (cigarette)
    Mayfair is a brand of cigarettes, produced by Gallaher Group. The brand is available in seven versions; Fine King Size, King Size, King Size Smooth, Menthol, Superkings, Superkings Menthol and Superkings Smooth. Gallaher launched Mayfair in 1992, with the slogan "A good smoke at a fair price". ...

  • Max
    Max (cigarette)
    Max, introduced in 1975, was a brand of 120mm cigarettes produced by the Lorillard Tobacco Company of Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. The brand was discontinued in summer 2010....

  • Merit
    Merit (cigarette)
    Merit is a brand of cigarettes made by Altria. -Lawsuit:A lawsuit has been filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against Philip Morris USA, the cigarettes' manufacturer, for concealing information about certain fire hazards of the brand...

  • Mild Seven
    Mild Seven
    Mild Seven is a brand of cigarettes produced by Japan Tobacco. Mild Seven cigarettes are the third widest smoked cigarette in the world, behind Marlboro and Camel. Manufactured originally in Tokyo, by Japanese Tobacco Inc. it has been a top seller since its creation in 1977...

  • More
    More (cigarette)
    More is a brand of cigarette which was originally marketed to both men and women and then changed its primary focus to women consumers. It typically has a dark brown wrapper and is typically 120 mm in length...

  • Monte Carlo

  • Nat Sherman
    Nat Sherman
    Nat Sherman is the brand name for a line of handmade cigars and "luxury cigarettes." The company, which began as a retail tobacconist, continues to operate a flagship retail shop now located on 42nd Street, off of Fifth Avenue, in New York City...

  • Natural American Spirit
    Natural American Spirit
    Natural American Spirit is a brand of cigarette and tobacco products manufactured in the United States by the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, a wholly owned independent subsidiary of Reynolds American, in turn 42% owned by British American Tobacco...

  • Newport
    Newport (cigarette)
    Newport, introduced in 1957, is a brand of menthol cigarettes produced by Lorillard Tobacco Company of Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Newports comprise about 35 percent of menthol cigarette sales in the US. Newports have gained a commanding share of the African-American market; a 2005...

  • Next
    Next (cigarette)
    Next is a brand of cigarettes made by Altria. The brand was created by Philip Morris International after tax increases of tobacco in Malaysia pushed Marlboro out of the market. Next is known to be a watered-down version of Marlboro with slight defects in the wrapping paper used although its...

  • Old Gold
  • Pall Mall
    Pall Mall (cigarette)
    Pall Mall cigarettes are a brand of cigarettes produced by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and internationally by British American Tobacco at multiple sites.- History :...

  • Parliament
    Parliament (cigarette)
    Parliament is a brand of cigarettes marketed by the company Philip Morris. The brand was introduced in 1931 and is distinctive for its recessed paper filters. In the 1940s and '50s, the brand was marketed for its unique filters, with advertisements reading, "Only the flavor touches your lips", and...

  • Peter Stuyvesant
    Peter Stuyvesant
    Peter Stuyvesant , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York...

  • Philip Morris
    Philip Morris
    - Philip/Phillip Morris :*Altria Group, conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the 19th century tobacconist**Philip Morris USA, tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group...

  • Player's
    John Player & Sons
    John Player & Sons, known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. It is today a part of the Imperial Tobacco Group.-History:...

  • Route 66
  • Salem
    Salem (cigarette)
    Salem is a brand of cigarettes introduced in 1956 by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company as the first filter-tipped menthol cigarette. Its name derives from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the city where RJR was founded and headquartered...

  • Sampoerna
  • Samson
  • Seneca
    Seneca (cigarette)
    Seneca cigarettes are a brand of additive free cigarettes made in New York State by the Seneca people.In August 2010 the Seneca Fair Trade association won an injunction allowing them to continue postal deliveries of purchased cigarettes ....

  • Sobranie
    Sobranie
    Sobranie is a word in several Slavic languages for parliament, and can refer to:*Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia*National Assembly of Bulgaria*Federal Assembly of Russia...

  • Sovereign
  • Tareyton
    Tareyton
    Tareyton is a brand of cigarettes originally manufactured by the American Tobacco Company. It began as a variation of Herbert Tareyton cork-tipped non-filter cigarettes . As filters gained in popularity in the late 1950s, Tareyton was created in 1954 as the filtered version of Herbert Tareyton,...

  • Treasurer
  • Vantage
    Vantage (cigarette)
    Vantage is a brand of American cigarettes manufactured by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. It received its biggest advertising push in the 1970s and '80s but is now categorized as a 'non-support' brand; though R.J...

  • Viceroy
    Viceroy (cigarette)
    Viceroy cigarettes are made by Brown & Williamson, which was owned by British American Tobacco, and, since 2004, by Reynolds American Inc., a joint venture between the U.S. branch of British American Tobacco and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company....

  • Virginia Slims
    Virginia Slims
    Virginia Slims is a brand of cigarette manufactured by Altria Group . The brand was introduced in 1968 and marketed to young professional women using the slogan "You've come a long way, baby." Some media watch groups considered this campaign to be responsible for a rapid increase in smoking among...

  • West
  • Winston
    Winston (cigarette)
    Winston cigarettes are manufactured by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company or its newer incarnation as RJR Nabisco and/or its affiliates.The brand was introduced in 1954, and became the best-selling brand of cigarettes in the United States...

  • Winfield
    Winfield (cigarette)
    Winfield is a brand of cigarette that is popular in Australia and New Zealand. They are also sold in other markets in Europe, Canada, South Africa and Asia...



See also

Health and culture
  • Smoking culture
  • Tobacco smoking
    Tobacco smoking
    Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...

  • List of additives in cigarettes
  • Health effects of tobacco smoking
    Health effects of tobacco smoking
    The health effects of tobacco are the circumstances, mechanisms, and factors of tobacco consumption on human health. Epidemiological research has been focused primarily on cigarette tobacco smoking, which has been studied more extensively than any other form of consumption.Tobacco is the single...



United States
  • Cigarette taxes in the United States
    Cigarette taxes in the United States
    In the United States cigarettes are taxed at both the federal and state levels, in addition to any state and local sales taxes and local cigarette-specific taxes. Cigarette taxation has appeared throughout American history and still presents itself prominently today. Overall public health officials...

  • History of commercial tobacco in the United States
    History of commercial tobacco in the United States
    The history of commercial tobacco production in the United States dates back to the 17th century when the first commercial crop was planted. The industry originated in the production of tobacco for pipes and snuff. Different war efforts in the world created a shift in demand and production of...



Similar products
  • Beedi
    Beedi
    A beedi is a thin, South Asian cigarette filled with tobacco flake and wrapped in a tendu leaf tied with a string at one end.The word comes from beeda, Marwari for a leaf wrapped in betel nuts, herbs, and condiments....

  • Cigar
    Cigar
    A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...

  • Kretek
    Kretek
    Kretek are cigarettes made with a blend of tobacco, cloves and other flavors. The word "kretek" itself is an onomatopoetic term for the crackling sound of burning cloves. Haji Jamahri, a resident of Kudus, Java, created kreteks in the early 1880s as a means to deliver the eugenol of cloves to the...

  • Cigarillo
    Cigarillo
    A cigarillo is a short, narrow cigar. Unlike cigarettes, cigarillos are wrapped not in paper but in whole-leaf tobacco. Cigarillos can be found for purchase alone or in packs, and are often made without filters...

  • Shag (tobacco)
    Shag (tobacco)
    Shag, also known as rolling tobacco and loose tobacco is fine-cut tobacco used to make self-made cigarettes by hand rolling the tobacco into rolling paper or injecting it into filter tubes. It got its name from the finely cut strands appearing like 'shag' and was originally considered poor quality...

  • Herbal cigarette
  • Electronic cigarette


Cigarette components
  • Nicotine
    Nicotine
    Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants that constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of the dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots and accumulation occurring in the leaves...

  • Smoke constituents
  • Cigarette filter
    Cigarette filter
    A cigarette filter has the purpose of reducing the amount of smoke, tar, and fine particles inhaled during the combustion of a cigarette. Filters also reduce the harshness of the smoke and keep tobacco flakes out of the smoker's mouth.-History:...

  • Cigarette holder
    Cigarette holder
    A cigarette holder is a fashion accessory, a slender tube in which a cigarette is held for smoking. Most frequently made of silver, jade or bakelite , cigarette holders were considered an essential part of ladies' fashion from the mid-1910s through the early-1970s, and are still widely popular...


External links

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