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Tobacco
Nicotiana tabacum
Tobacco refers to products prepared from cured leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana, primarily N. tabacum. It contains the highly addictive stimulant alkaloid nicotinecitation needed, making it one of the most widely used recreational drugs globally with an estimated one billion active smokers. Tobacco is consumed through smoking (cigarettes, cigars, pipes), as well as oral forms like chewing tobacco and snuff. The World Health Organization has identified tobacco use as the world's single greatest preventable cause of death, linked to diseases affecting the heart, liver, lungs, and numerous cancers.1
Dosage & Duration
Dosage
Doses are population estimates that vary widely between individuals.
Threshold~0.2 mg
Light0.3+ mg
Duration
Onset20 seconds
Total20 minutes
Subjective Effects
Legacy content. A statistically backed ontology from Mindstate Design Labs is coming soon.
Effects vary widely by individual, dose, and context.
Physical
Cognitive
Pharmacology
Pharmacodynamics
Tobacco's primary psychoactive constituent is nicotine, a stimulant alkaloid that acts as a potent neurotoxin to insects but produces characteristic stimulant and reinforcing effects in humans.citation needed Beyond nicotine, tobacco contains several other pharmacologically active compounds that contribute to its overall effects. 2,3,6-Trimethyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (2,3,6-TQ) functions as a reversible monoamine oxidase inhibitor affecting both MAO-A and MAO-B subtypes, with binding affinity comparable to clorgyline and deprenyl. This compound acts as a stronger dopamine releasing agent than nicotine itself and inhibits dopamine metabolism through its MAOI activity. Tobacco also contains the harmala alkaloids harmine and norharmine, which are reversible MAO-A inhibitors. The MAO-A inhibitory activity of these tobacco alkaloids has been implicated in contributing to tobacco's reinforcing and addictive properties beyond what nicotine alone would produce.
Pharmacokinetics
When tobacco is smoked, nicotine is rapidly absorbed through the lungs with effects beginning within approximately 20 seconds.citation needed The duration of acute effects is relatively brief, lasting around 20 minutes. Tobacco also contains anabasine and other piperidine alkaloids in varying concentrations between species, as well as germacrene. The curing process affects the chemical composition of tobacco, with different methods producing varying levels of sugar and nicotine content.
Metabolitesnone documented yet
Interactions
Interactions not written up yet
An unlisted combination is an unknown one, not a safe one. Check a dedicated combination chart before mixing.
Tolerance
Tolerance timelines are rules of thumb, not exact schedules, and vary widely between individuals and use patterns.
Full Tolerance
Tolerance to nicotine's effects develops with regular use as the brain adjusts to excess dopamine, reducing the subjective high compared to initial experiences.citation needed Users may increase consumption attempting to achieve the same effects they felt when first using tobacco.
Cross Tolerance
Other nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists
Harm Potential
Addiction & Dependence
Psychological
Extremely HighNicotine is one of the most addictive substances known, scoring almost as highly as opioids in drug effect preference questionnaires.citation needed It produces conditioned place preference and strong psychological reinforcement, with users typically developing dependence. The presence of MAO inhibitors in tobacco enhances dopamine release and may contribute to its exceptionally high addictive potential.
Physical
Extremely HighUsers typically develop tolerance and physical dependence with regular use.2 Nicotine dependence is characterized by compulsive use despite awareness of severe health consequences.citation needed
Toxicity
Lethal Dosage
Acute nicotine poisoning (green tobacco sickness) occurs through dermal absorption when handling wet tobacco leaves, causing nausea, vomiting, and dizziness.3 Children handling tobacco leaves can be exposed to nicotine levels equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes through skin contact alone.
Respiratory
Chronic tobacco smoking causes severe lung diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (emphysema) and lung cancer; these conditions develop over years of regular use and are the primary causes of tobacco-related mortality.citation needed
Cardiovascular
Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular diseases; these risks develop with chronic use and account for a substantial portion of tobacco-related deaths.citation needed
Central Nervous System
Nicotine is a potent neurotoxin; exposure during childhood brain development can permanently alter brain structure and function.citation needed
Hepatic
Tobacco use is identified as a risk factor for liver diseases with chronic use.citation needed
Oral Cavity and Larynx
Chronic tobacco use causes cancers of the mouth, larynx, and pancreas.citation needed
Urinary System
Chronic tobacco use is associated with bladder cancer.citation needed
Carcinogenicity
Confirmed
Tobacco is a confirmed human carcinogen causing cancers of the lungs, larynx, mouth, pancreas, and bladder.citation needed Tobacco smoke contains thousands of toxic chemicals including proven carcinogens. The radioactive contaminant polonium-210 accumulates in lung tissue over time, with one study estimating radiation from 25 years of smoking would cause over 120 deaths per thousand smokers.
Evidence Basis
Human EpidemiologicalPositive
Animal Models
None
In Vitro
genotoxic
MechanisticNone
History & Culture
Etymology
The English word "tobacco" originates from the Spanish "tabaco." The precise origin remains disputed, but it is generally thought to have derived, at least in part, from Taíno, the Arawakan language of the Caribbean. In Taíno, the word was said to mean either a roll of tobacco leaves or referred to…
Legality
International
Tobacco is not listed in the schedules of the 1961 Single Convention or the 1971 Convention, nor in the precursor tables of the 1988 Convention. It is therefore not internationally scheduled under those UN drug-control conventions.
By Country
Legal / decriminalized39
United StatesLegal (regulated)Tobacco is not scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act and remains legal for adult purchase and consumption.83 It is subject to federal and state regulations regarding sale, taxation, and marketing rather than criminal drug laws.
By state
Across the 50 states, D.C., and the permanent territories, most jurisdictions treat Tobacco consistently with federal control; listed entries record independently verified differences in state classification or coverage.
CaliforniaRestrictedCal. Health & Safety Code § 104559.5(b)(1)84
California bars tobacco retailers and their agents or employees from selling, offering for sale, or possessing with intent to sell flavored tobacco products or tobacco product flavor enhancers. The restriction is not a general prohibition on tobacco: it applies to products with a characterizing flavor and has statutory exceptions for certain shisha sales, specified premium-cigar sales, looseleaf tobacco, and premium cigars. The definition of tobacco product includes human-consumption products containing, made, or derived from tobacco or nicotine, while excluding FDA-approved nicotine replacement products and most cannabis products.
HawaiiRestrictedHaw. Rev. Stat. § 328J-11.585
Hawaii prohibits selling, offering for sale, distributing, or offering to distribute flavored tobacco products. The statute treats a flavored tobacco product as a tobacco product that imparts a distinguishable taste or aroma other than tobacco. Tobacco products not covered by that product-specific restriction remain subject to Hawaii's general tobacco regulation.
IllinoisLegal (regulated)720 ILCS 675/186
Illinois regulates rather than generally prohibits tobacco products. Chicago imposes an additional municipal restriction on retail sales of flavored tobacco products near schools, including a distance-based exception for certain adult-only tobacco stores.
ChicagoRestricted
Chicago Municipal Code § 4-64-515(b) restricts a tobacco dealer from selling, offering for sale, giving away, or otherwise distributing a flavored tobacco product within 500 feet of a school. The restriction concerns specified retail distribution in Chicago, rather than possession or tobacco generally, and the code provides an exception for a qualifying adult-only tobacco store. It therefore does not make tobacco generally prohibited in Illinois.
ArgentinaLegal (regulated)Law No. 26,6875
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Argentina. Law No. 26,687 regulates advertising, promotion and consumption of tobacco products.
AustraliaLegal (regulated)At the Commonwealth level, tobacco products are regulated rather than generally prohibited: the Act defines them as processed tobacco in any form, or products containing tobacco, that are designed or intended for human consumption or use. It regulates their advertising, sponsorship, packaging, naming, contents, sale and supply; non-compliant products may not be sold or supplied. Chewing tobacco and snuffs intended for oral use are permanently banned, so that product-specific ban does not make all tobacco prohibited. The Act commenced on 1 April 2024 and replaced the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011; the former-law retail sell-through period ended on 30 June 2025.
AustriaLegal (regulated)Tabak- und Nichtraucherinnen- bzw. Nichtraucherschutzgesetz (TNRSG), BGBl. Nr. 431/1995, RIS Gesetzesnummer 1001090789
Austria regulates tobacco products under the TNRSG rather than prohibiting tobacco as a substance generally. The Act defines a tobacco product as a product intended for smoking, sniffing, sucking, or chewing that consists wholly or partly of tobacco, and regulates manufacture, market placement, product compliance, labelling, advertising, distance sales, and sales to persons under 18. Market placement is prohibited for non-compliant tobacco or related products and specifically for tobacco for oral use and chewing tobacco; the July 2025 amendment also defined heated tobacco products and applied updated rules from 24 July 2025, with a limited sell-through period to 31 May 2026.
BelgiumLegal (regulated)Law of 24 January 1977 on the protection of consumer health concerning foodstuffs and other products (ELI 1977012405), consolidated1011
Belgium’s consolidated 1977 consumer-health law expressly places tobacco, tobacco-based products, and similar products within its category of ‘other products,’ collectively termed tobacco products; this is product-level regulation, not a control of nicotine or another isolated tobacco alkaloid. The law prohibits supplying tobacco products to persons under 18, restricts specified points of sale (including temporary outlets and food shops over 400 m²), prohibits display at points of sale from 1 April 2025, and prohibits tobacco-product advertising and sponsorship subject to limited exceptions. The federal public-health authority identifies conventional tobacco products such as cigarettes, rolling tobacco, pipes, cigars/cigarillos, chewing tobacco, snuff, and heated tobacco products as within this regulated product framework.
BrazilLegal (regulated)Law No. 9,294 of 199612
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Brazil. Law No. 9,294 restricts use and advertising of tobacco products.
ChileLegal (regulated)Law No. 20,66015
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Chile. Law No. 20,660 amends the Tobacco Law to protect non-smokers and regulate tobacco.
ChinaLegal (regulated)Tobacco Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China (third amended 2015), implemented by the Regulations for the Implementation of the Tobacco Monopoly Law (third revised 2021)1617
China subjects tobacco monopoly products to state monopoly management and a tobacco-monopoly licensing system for production, sale, and import/export. The Law defines tobacco products specifically as cigarettes, cigars, cut tobacco, and redried tobacco leaf; it also separately includes tobacco leaf and specified production inputs in the broader monopoly-product category. The 2021 implementing Regulations additionally provide that e-cigarettes and other new tobacco products are governed by the provisions applicable to cigarettes.
ColombiaLegal (regulated)Law No. 1335 of 200918
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Colombia. Law No. 1335 prevents harms from tobacco consumption and establishes consumer protections.
DenmarkLegal (regulated)Bekendtgørelse af lov om tobaksvarer m.v. (LBK nr. 1161 af 4. november 2024), as amended by lov nr. 1669 af 30. december 202419202122
Denmark's current Tobacco Products Act applies to tobacco products, tobacco surrogates, and herbal smoking products that are manufactured or marketed in Denmark; it defines tobacco products as usable products wholly or partly consisting of tobacco. It regulates such products through reporting, emissions, packaging, health-warning, and marketing rules, while expressly prohibiting marketing of particular products or forms, including tobacco for oral use and cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and roll-your-own tobacco with a characterising flavour. Retsinformation marks LBK no. 1161 as in force and identifies Law no. 1669 of 30 December 2024 as a later amendment; that amendment introduced further product rules without making tobacco generally prohibited.
FinlandLegal (regulated)Tobacco products are lawful in Finland but regulated under the Tobacco Act, which governs product requirements and notifications, packaging, import restrictions, display, smoking restrictions, supervision, and sanctions. The Act also reaches tobacco substitutes, tobacco imitations, smoking accessories, electronic cigarettes, and nicotine-containing liquids; Act 251/2025, principally effective 1 August 2025, additionally introduced rules for non-combustible nicotine products such as nicotine pouches, which may contain no tobacco plant.
FranceLegal (regulated)Code de la santé publique27
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in France. The Public Health Code regulates tobacco products, including their sale and advertising.
IndiaLegal (regulated)Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 200330
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in India. The Act prohibits advertising and regulates trade, commerce, production, supply and distribution of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
IndonesiaLegal (regulated)Government Regulation No. 28 of 202431
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Indonesia. Government Regulation No. 28 of 2024 implements health-law provisions including controls on tobacco products.
IrelandLegal (regulated)Public Health (Tobacco) Act 200232
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Ireland. The Act controls the sale, advertising and use of tobacco products.
IsraelLegal (regulated)Prohibition of Advertising and Restriction of Marketing of Tobacco and Smoking Products Law, 1983 (חוק איסור פרסומת והגבלת השיווק של מוצרי טבק ועישון, התשמ"ג-1983)3334
Israel regulates tobacco through the Prohibition of Advertising and Restriction of Marketing of Tobacco and Smoking Products Law, 1983, whose current consolidated record is published by the Knesset. The Ministry of Health explains that the amended law covers smoking products, including any product containing tobacco, tobacco-smoking accessories, vegetable-source products intended for smoking, and e-cigarettes; it therefore regulates tobacco products themselves rather than only an alkaloid or analog. The phased 2019–2020 amendments prohibited most advertising, imposed marketing, display, packaging, warning, and reporting rules, while preserving narrowly specified exceptions such as certain print advertising and requested written promotional material for adults aged 21 or over.
ItalyLegal (regulated)Legislative Decree 12 January 2016, No. 6 (implementation of Directive 2014/40/EU on the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco and related products)353637
Legislative Decree No. 6/2016 entered into force on 2 February 2016 and regulates tobacco-product ingredients and emissions, packaging and health warnings, traceability, cross-border distance sales, and notification of new-generation tobacco products. It also regulates the placing on the market and labelling of electronic cigarettes, refill containers, and herbal products for smoking, while prohibiting the placing on the market of tobacco for oral use. The Customs and Monopolies Agency states that manufactured tobacco must receive its prior authorization for commercialization in Italy and be distributed through the official retail network. This is a product-specific regulatory framework, not a general authorization of every tobacco-derived substance outside the defined product categories.
JapanLegal (regulated)Japan regulates manufactured tobacco under the Tobacco Business Act, Act No. 68 of 1984. The Act governs domestic leaf-tobacco production and purchase and the manufacture and sale of manufactured tobacco, including wholesale, retail, and specified import sales. The Act applies to manufactured tobacco as it defines that term, not to products outside that statutory scope.
MexicoLegal (regulated)General Law for Tobacco Control40
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Mexico. The General Law for Tobacco Control regulates tobacco products and protects public health.
New ZealandLegal (regulated)Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 199044
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in New Zealand. The Act regulates smokefree environments and regulated products including tobacco.
NorwayLegal (regulated)Act relating to the Prevention of the Harmful Effects of Tobacco Products45
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Norway. The Act aims to limit health harms caused by tobacco products.
PhilippinesLegal (regulated)Republic Act No. 9211 regulates, rather than generally prohibits, the packaging, use, sale, distribution and advertising of tobacco products. It defines a tobacco product as loose tobacco containing nicotine intended for use in a cigarette, including a product containing tobacco intended for smoking or oral or nasal use; unless otherwise stated, cigarette requirements also apply to other tobacco products. The Act restricts access, smoking in specified places, packaging and marketing, while Republic Act No. 10643 repealed RA 9211's former cigarette-package warning provision and imposes graphic-health-warning requirements. Republic Act No. 11900 separately regulates vaporized nicotine/non-nicotine and novel tobacco products, rather than general tobacco products.
PolandLegal (regulated)Act on Health Protection against the Consequences of Tobacco Use48
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Poland. The Act protects health against consequences of tobacco use and regulates tobacco products.
PortugalLegal (regulated)Law No. 37/200749
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Portugal. Law No. 37/2007 approves rules for preventing and controlling tobacco use.
RussiaLegal (regulated)Federal Law No. 203-FZ of 13 June 2023, On State Regulation of the Production and Circulation of Tobacco Products, Tobacco Products, Nicotine-Containing Products and Raw Materials for Their Production (as amended through Federal Law No. 123-FZ of 23 May 2025)50515253
Russia has a statutory framework for, rather than a general prohibition of, tobacco products: current Federal Law No. 203-FZ establishes the legal foundations for their production and circulation, including supply, import/export, transport, storage, and retail sale. Its current text defines tobacco products specifically as smoking or smokeless tobacco products packaged for consumers; nicotine-containing products are addressed separately. Law No. 203-FZ took effect on 1 September 2023 except for provisions assigned other commencement dates, and its consolidated Kremlin publication records amendments through 23 May 2025; Federal Law No. 15-FZ remains part of the applicable tobacco-regulation legislation and provides health-protection restrictions.
SingaporeLegal (regulated)Singapore's Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act 1993 regulates the advertising, import, sale, possession and use of tobacco products. It defines tobacco products broadly to include cigarettes, cigars, other forms of tobacco, derivatives, substitutes, and specified mixtures or multi-component articles. The Act prohibits particular categories, including chewing tobacco and prescribed tobacco products, while other tobacco products remain subject to its advertising, labelling and licensing controls. The 2026 amendment renamed the Act, and the Government states that the renamed and amended Act took effect on 1 May 2026.
South AfricaLegal (regulated)Tobacco Products Control Act 83 of 1993, as amended by the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Acts 12 of 1999, 23 of 2007, and 63 of 2008575859
South Africa regulates tobacco products rather than generally prohibiting them. The Act's control scheme covers smoking in public places, sale, advertising, packaging and labelling, while the 2007 and 2008 amendments added or revised controls including manufacturing and import standards, vending-machine sales, free distribution, and sales to or by people under 18. The Act applies to tobacco products as defined by the Act, not every possible unprocessed tobacco plant material; the cited amendments both commenced on 21 August 2009, and the later Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill remains a bill rather than the operative statute.
South KoreaLegal (regulated)South Korea's Tobacco Business Act regulates rather than prohibits products made wholly or partly from tobacco leaf or nicotine that are prepared for smoking, sucking, vapor inhalation, chewing, or sniffing; medicines and quasi-drugs under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act are excluded from that definition. The Act requires authorization for manufacture, registration for import sales and wholesale, and retailer designation for consumer sales; it also restricts sales by unauthorized retailers and provides for sanctions, while the National Health Promotion Act imposes tobacco-control measures such as smoke-free areas, package warnings, advertising limits, and health-promotion charges.
SpainLegal (regulated)Law 28/200562
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Spain. Law 28/2005 establishes health measures against smoking and regulates sale, supply and advertising.
SwitzerlandLegal (regulated)Federal Act on Tobacco Products and Electronic Cigarettes68
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Switzerland. The federal Act governs tobacco products and electronic cigarettes placed on the market.
TurkeyLegal (regulated)Law No. 420773
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Turkey. Law No. 4207 concerns prevention and control of harms caused by tobacco products.
UkraineLegal (regulated)Law No. 2899-IV74
Tobacco products are lawful but regulated in Ukraine. The law provides measures to prevent and reduce tobacco use and its harmful effects.
United Arab EmiratesLegal (regulated)Federal Law No. (15) of 2009 on Combating Tobacco, as amended by Federal Decree-Law No. (7) of 2022757677
The law defines tobacco as the tobacco plant or any part of it and regulates tobacco products, rather than controlling only a constituent. It prohibits bringing tobacco and its products into the UAE or trading them there unless the applicable standard-specification conditions are met, and separately restricts sales to persons under 18, advertising, vending machines, and smoking in specified places. Federal Decree-Law No. (7) of 2022 amended provisions of the 2009 law and took effect on 30 August 2022.
United KingdomLegal (regulated)Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 201678
References
Citations
- National Cancer Institute. (n.d.). Harms of Cigarette Smoking and Health Benefits of Quitting. National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/tobacco/cessation-fact-sheet1
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2014). Nicotine — The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK294308/1
- Mena KD, & Gerba CP. (2018). Green Tobacco Sickness: A Brief Review. Reviews on Environmental Health. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5868082/1
- Nicotine on the developing brain. (2023). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10392865/1
- Law No. 26,687. servicios.infoleg.gob.ar (n.d.). https://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/180000-184999/183207/norma.htm1
- Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act 2023 (Compilation No. 3). legislation.gov.au (n.d.). https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2023A00118/latest/text1
- Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act 2023 (Compilation No. 3). health.gov.au (n.d.). https://www.health.gov.au/topics/smoking-vaping-and-tobacco/tobacco-control/new-legislation1
- Tabak- und Nichtraucherinnen- bzw. Nichtraucherschutzgesetz (TNRSG), BGBl. Nr. 431/1995, RIS Gesetzesnummer 10010907. ris.bka.gv.at (n.d.). https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=100109071
- Tabak- und Nichtraucherinnen- bzw. Nichtraucherschutzgesetz (TNRSG), BGBl. Nr. 431/1995, RIS Gesetzesnummer 10010907. ris.bka.gv.at (n.d.). https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokumente/BgblAuth/BGBLA_2025_I_36/BGBLA_2025_I_36.html1
- Law of 24 January 1977 on the protection of consumer health concerning foodstuffs and other products (ELI 1977012405), consolidated. ejustice.just.fgov.be (n.d.). https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/eli/loi/1977/01/24/1977012405/justel1
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Recent changes7 human edits · latest
Times are UTCNewest first
24 January 2026
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
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