What is it?
Tobacco is a plant that contains nicotine, an addictive drug that has both stimulant and depressant effects. Tobacco is most commonly smoked in cigarettes. It is also smoked in cigars or pipes, chewed as chewing tobacco, sniffed as dry snuff or held inside the lip or cheek as wet snuff. Tobacco may also be mixed with cannabis and smoked in "joints." All methods of using tobacco deliver nicotine to the body. Although tobacco is legal, federal, provincial and municipal laws tightly control tobacco manufacture, marketing, distribution and use. Second-hand tobacco smoke is now recognized as a health danger, which has led to increasing restrictions on where people can smoke. Violations of tobacco-related laws can result in fines and/or prison terms.