Tobacco in the United States

Tobacco cultivation near Jamestown, Virginia Colony, in 1610 was the beginning of the plant's development as a cash crop with a strong demand in England.

By the beginning of the 18th century, tobacco became a significant economic force in the American colonies, especially in Virginia's tidewater region surrounding Chesapeake Bay.

[10] In 2020, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) estimated that 5.66 million adults, or 2.3% of the U.S population, reported that they were vaping.

[12] The decade of the 2010s saw both the advent and uptick in the prevalence of vaping among American youths, as e-cigarettes became the latest nicotine-delivery device for U.S. consumers.

[14] According to a U.S. government survey data released in April 2023, smoking rates in the United States fell even further by 2022, with 1 of 9 U.S. adults reporting to be a smoker.

[17][18] The U.S. tobacco industry, from its earliest advertising to its more recent public relations campaigns, has long portrayed smoking to be a harmless activity.

A 1999 feature film, The Insider, centered on the production of a news segment about "Big Tobacco" and its communications methods.

In the 21st century, the rising influence of social media in the United States has provided new generations of teenagers and young adults with a new platform for anti-smoking information.

(2011)[19] California's adult smoking rate has dropped nearly 50% since the state began the nation's longest-running tobacco control program in 1988.

California's state government reported saving a total of $86 billion in healthcare costs after allocating $1.8 billion for tobacco control; this was a 50:1 return on investment compared to total cost of the state's tobacco control program in its first 15 years.

[19] Some of the notable tobacco companies in the US are: Historian Keith Wailoo argues that the U.S. cigarette industry especially targeted African Americans, starting in the 1960s.

Cigarette companies then took the initiative in fighting back, developing and promoting menthol-flavored brands that they advertised as more soothing to the throat.

Big Tobacco responded by investing heavily in the civil rights movement, winning the gratitude of many national and local leaders.