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| THE SMOKER
Smoking
is a practice in which a substance is burned and the smoke tasted or
inhaled. This is primarily practiced as a route of administration for
recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in
drugs such as nicotine and makes them available for absorption through
the lungs. It can also be done as a part of rituals, to induce trances
and spiritual enlightenment. The most common method of smoking today is
through cigarettes, primarily industrially manufactured but also
hand-rolled from loose tobacco and rolling paper. Other smoking tools
includes pipes, cigars, hookahs and bongs.
Smoking
is one of the most common forms of recreational drug use. Tobacco
smoking is today by far the most popular form of smoking and is
practiced by over one billion people in the majority of all human
societies. Less common drugs for smoking include cannabis and opium.
Some of the substances are classified as hard narcotics, like heroin
and crack cocaine, but the use of these is very limited as they are
often not commercially available. The history of
smoking can be dated to as early as 5000 BC, and has been recorded in
many different cultures across the world. Early smoking evolved in
association with religious ceremonies; as offerings to deities, in
cleansing rituals or to allow shamans and priests to alter their minds
for purposes of divination or spiritual enlightenment. After the
European exploration and conquest of the Americas, the practice of
smoking tobacco quickly spread to the rest of the world. In regions
like India and Subsaharan Africa, it merged with existing practices of
smoking (mostly of cannabis). In Europe, it introduced a new type of
social activity and a form of drug intake which previously had been
unknown.
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