I've often wondered what possessed man to ever smoke anything?

Question

What do you think caused ancient man to start smoking anything? Think they threw something on their fire and accidently inhaled something and decied they liked the affect and came up with a pipe? What else could it have been?

Answer 1

LOL! Good question. Boredom maybe?

Answer 2

Tobacco smoking with pipes and cigars was common to many Native American cultures prior to the arrival of European explorers. The practice is depicted in early Mayan art dating back to around 1,500 years ago. The Mayans were also known to use tobacco as an all-purpose medicinal antidote, and the crop was widely believed to possess magical powers as its usage has been documented in ancient ceremonial sacrifices and divinations as well as in talismans.

On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus was given dry leaves by the Arawaks, but threw them away. Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres were the first Europeans to observe smoking, and Jerez became the first recorded smoker outside the Americas. Throughout the 16th century, the habit of smoking was common mainly among sailors. Tobacco was introduced to England in the 1560s by the crew of Sir John Hawkins but did not begin making an impact on European society until the 1580s. The cigar became immensely popular in England during the late 1820s. In 1828, the cigarette appeared in Spain and enjoyed immediate success but still remained less popular than both the cigar and pipe until the early 20th century when cheap mechanically manufactured cigarettes became standard.

During World War I, it was typical for tobacco products to be included in military rations. Following the war, cigarette smoking was advertised as part of a glamorous, carefree lifestyle, and became socially acceptable for women. In the 1930s, Nazism|Nazi medical and military leaders grew concerned with the possibility that tobacco might be hazardous to human health and their scientists were the first to confirm this link. In the United States, biologist Raymond Pearl had demonstrated the negative health effects of tobacco smoking as early as 1938. In the 1950s and 1960s, the medical community along with various governmental bodies, and Readers Digest magazine, began a campaign to reduce the degree of smoking by showing how it damaged public health. Although tobacco smoking in many regions of the world has dropped dramatically in recent years, it continues to remain relatively high in Asian countries due to aggressive marketing and the lack of health education.

Answer 3

“I'm glad I don't have to explain to a man from Mars why each day I set fire to dozens of little pieces of paper, and then put them in my mouth.”
Mignon McLaughlin quote

Answer 4

Always was a social thing and acceptable by different groups of people for social reasons.