The wind caught his singed hair as it fell of, and carried it some distance away. It fell to earth, took root and produced tobacco. Natives originally did not use tobacco for pleasure. It was reserved for ceremonial, spiritual, social, political, and medicinal purposes. It was often used during evening social times, and during religious ritual.
Tobacco is medicine.
Its use was generally restricted in the past to men and to female Native healers. If Native use of tobacco had remained restricted to its original purposes, it would probably not represent a major health risk. However, since the arrival of Europeans, tobacco has been used increasingly for pleasure. Youth surveys indicate that Native children tend to start smoking earlier and smoke more often than the rest of the population. This is twice the rate of California adults.