Tobacco has been one of the most influential and controversial crops since its first discovery by Europeans in the year 1492, when Columbus landed in the Americas. It then continued to spread among the Spanish colonists in Santo Domingo during the year 1531, shortly after Bartolomé de las Casas noticed that his fellow colonists were beginning to develop a strong dependence on it. Tobacco began to spread across Europe in the 16th century, quickly becoming the vice of many, but also becoming what people thought was the cure for many diseases. King James I was the first to impose a tax on tobacco, while King Louis XIV was the first to regulate the distribution of the crop. Overall, efforts to limit tobacco use for medicinal purposes failed across Europe once world leaders discovered its deadly side effects. In Türkiye the consequence for smoking in public was beheading, while in countries such as Russia and Austria you could be fined, imprisoned and tortured. King James I of England wrote about the addictive properties of tobacco and the prolonged damage to the lungs resulting from prolonged use. The history of tobacco, however, was not always so sad. When it was first discovered on American soil, Columbus and other colonists wrote personal accounts of seeing Indians smoking "dry leaves through a Y-shaped pipe." It was closely observed that this crop was easy to grow, trade, and use for personal enjoyment. The tobacco economy in the early colonies was a cycle of demand for leaf, demand for slave labor, a global industry that eventually led to the rise of the Chesapeake. Consignment system, meaning that American tobacco farmers would sell their crops to London merchants but still retain ownership of up to... half the paper... an abundance for those who remained loyal customers. It wasn't until the 1950s that more and more evidence began to emerge that tobacco was linked to lung cancer as well as other serious diseases such as emphazema, heart disease, etc. Tobacco advertisements were removed from store windows and television commercials and were quickly replaced. with anti-smoking campaigns and warnings stating that tobacco use in any form could very well lead to the development of these serious diseases. Today, tobacco is the leading cause of death in the United States and has remained so for several decades. In conclusion, tobacco has been an extreme resource and an extreme detriment to society, and remains so today. The boost it gave our economy remains as heavy pollution, health concerns and expensive manufacturing continue to be an ongoing problem in our nation and around the world..