The daily events of our lives become normal and we don't give them a second look. We are surrounded by smoke every day wherever we go, even if we don't smoke it affects us. It has been present in our society for generations. Families have grown up with members who smoke or even smoke themselves. Smoking causes much of our society to spend billions while boosting the economy with sales and advertising; In the midst of so much negativity surrounding smoking, what is good or bad? We hear the negatives all the time, but the benefits of smoking are never discussed. Tobacco and smoking have not always been used as they are today. Around 600-900 AD many cultures grew tobacco and Native Americans smoked it and used it during religious ceremonies and for medical uses (History of Tobacco). By the mid-1800s, Americans began occasionally smoking tobacco from both pipes and cigarettes; not like people smoke today has been stated very occasionally in the History of Tobacco. The first major production of cigarettes began in 1865, but they were made for soldiers during the Civil War. In 1881 business picked up and everyone started smoking more frequently due to the huge amount of cigarettes produced and access to them (History of Tobacco). Since cigarettes have only been around for a little over a hundred years, it was very new. Most people who smoke cigarettes were unaware of the possible presence of dangerous chemicals in cigarettes. In the mid-1980s people were informed that cigarettes were unsafe and in fact very harmful to their health. Generic surgeon warnings began to appear on every cigarette box, then dissent really began to appear associated with smoking (History of Tobacco). Today it seems that all the information about smoking has been released. Tobacco smoking is now the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States; killing up to 440,000 people each year in the United States due to tobacco-related illnesses. Above the claimed influence are tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide and up to 200 other known poisons contained in cigarettes that we know about today (Tobacco Facts). Some positives come from people's ability to smoke; The taxes produced by cigarettes help the government and other essential programs. Funding from the tax also creates jobs within government and programs.