Tobacco has been cultivated and smoked since as far back as 1400 B.C. with the earliest evidence of its cultivation found in the Americas in Mexico. Historically however, tobacco has come to be associated primarily with Native Americans of North America who used it in sacred ceremonies, as a sanctified means of sealing a deal and as a venue for settling disputes by sharing a “peace pipe” with adversaries. Highly valued and prized for its purported medicinal and spiritual effects, it was often bartered for other goods and became common currency among tribes. From a religious perspective, its users believed that the tobacco’s smoke carried one’s prayers and thoughts to the divine Creator.