Tobacco seeds have been found in archeological digs in Peru and Mexico that date the use of tobacco back at least 3,500 years. But it was the Spaniards who first started growing it commercially, and its use exploded after 1559, when Jean Nicot (from whom the word Nicotine comes) promoted the product across Europe as a medical wonder drug.

Throughout most of tobacco's history, it has been chewed or sniffed, with smoking really only becoming popular after 1918. Now that the latter has been heavily restricted, the idea of consuming powdered tobacco is once again attracting a following, not least since the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer 2004 report found that nasal use of snuff did not provide conclusive evidence of a link with cancer.