page_title: Tobacco in the United States
section_title: John Rolfe
hierarchical_section_title: Tobacco in the United States / History of commercial tobacco / John Rolfe
caption_attribution_description: Nicotiana tabacum Blütenstand einer Tabakpflanze
context_page_description: Tobacco has a long history in the United States.
  Tobacco distribution is measured in the United States using the term, "tobacco outlet density." An estimated 34.3 million people, or 14% of all adults, in the United States smoked cigarettes in 2015. By state, in 2015, smoking prevalence ranged from between 9.1% and 12.8% in Utah to between 23.7% and 27.4% in West Virginia. By region, in 2015, smoking prevalence was highest in the Midwest and South and lowest in the West. Men tend to smoke more than women. In 2015, 16.7% of men smoked compared to 13.6% of women. In 2018, 13.7% of U.S. adults were smokers.
  Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, accounting for approximately 443,000 deaths, or 1 of every 5 deaths, in the United States each year. Cigarette smoking alone has cost the United States $96 billion in direct medical expenses and $97 billion in lost productivity per year or an average of $4,260 per adult smoker.
context_section_description: In 1612, John Rolfe arrived in Jamestown to find the colonists there struggling and starving. He had brought with him a new species of tobacco known as nicotiana tabacum. This species was preferable to the native nicotiana rustica as it was much smoother. It is unknown where John Rolfe got the seeds for this new species of tobacco, as the sale of the seeds to a non-Spaniard was punishable by death. However, this new nicotiana tabacum proved to be very popular in England and the first shipment was sent in 1614. By 1639, 750 tons of tobacco had been shipped to England.
caption: Nicotiana Tabacum
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