Notes

Definition(s) of Tobacco -
* a preparation of the nicotine-rich leaves of an American plant, which are cured by a process of drying and fermentation for smoking or chewing.
* the plant of the nightshade family that yields tobacco, native to tropical America. It is widely cultivated in warm regions, especially in the US and China.

What Is Tobacco?
Tobacco is a green, leafy plant that is grown in warm climates. After it is picked, it is dried, ground up, and used in different ways. It can be smoked in a cigarette, pipe, or cigar. It can be chewed (called smokeless tobacco or chewing tobacco) or sniffed through the nose (called snuff).
Nicotine is one of the more than 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes and its smoke. It is the chemical that makes tobacco addictive or habit forming. Once we smoke, chew, or sniff tobacco, nicotine goes into our bloodstream, and our body wants more. The nicotine in tobacco makes it a drug. This means that when we use tobacco, it changes our body in some way. Because nicotine is a stimulant, it speeds up the nervous system, so we feel like we have more energy. It also makes the heart beat faster and raises blood pressure. Citation - http://healthliteracy.worlded.org/docs/tobacco/Unit1/1what_is.html

Why Is Tobacco A Drug?
Cigarettes and other forms of tobacco—including cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, and chewing tobacco—contain the addictive drug nicotine. Nicotine is readily absorbed into the bloodstream when a tobacco product is chewed, inhaled, or smoked. Smoking tobacco and smokeless tobacco are both carriers of the highly addictive drug nicotine. Once your body gets a taste for nicotine, it can easily become a life-long addiction, with highly fatal consequences. Citation - http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/cigarettes-other-tobacco-products and http://abovetheinfluence.com/drugs/tobacco-nicotine/