When one thinks about the origins of smoking, often one will immediately think of Sir Walter Raleigh, who popularised the smoking of tobacco in England in the 1500s. However, smoking dates back to as early as 5000 BC when it was used in shamanistic rituals.
With the arrivals of the Europeans in the 16th century, the consumption, cultivation, and trading of tobacco quickly spread. With the modernization of farm equipment and manufacturing bore the cigarette following reconstruction in the United States. This method of consumption quickly expanded the scope of consumption, which grew until the scientific controversies of the 1960s, and condemnation in the 1980s.
It wasn’t just tobacco that was smoked. In the quest for altered states of consciousness, people started smoking other substances, such as cannabis, and opium. Cannabis was common in the Middle East before the arrival of tobacco, and has been known to be in existence since 2000 BC. Early the consumption of cannabis was a common social activity that centered around the type of water pipe called a hookah.
Previously eaten for its medicinal properties, opium smoking became widespread during the 19th century from British trade with China. This spawned the many infamous Opium dens. In the latter half of the century, opium smoking became popular in the artistic communities of Europe. While Opium dens continued to exist throughout the world, the trend among the Europeans abated during the first World War, and among the Chinese during the cultural revolution.