across eurasia, from turkey to nepal, peaking during more modern times in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. throughout the 18th century, the technique of gathering and drying cannabis plants to make hashish became increasingly widespread as mass production became necessary to satisfy the rapidly increasing eurasian hashish trade. today, the pipes often had several tubes to accommodate multiple smokers, or smokers would pass the nozzle around in the many smoking houses that functioned as social hubs in major centers of muslim culture like istanbul, baghdad, and cairo. smoking, especially after the introduction of tobacco, was an essential component of muslim society and culture and became integrated with important traditions like weddings and funerals, and was expressed in architecture, clothing, literature and poetry. there is a reference to tobacco in a persian poem dating from before 1536, but because of the lack of any corroborating sources, the authenticity of the source has been questioned. the next reliable eyewitness account of tobacco smoking is by a spanish envoy in 1617, but by this time the practice was already deeply engrained in persian society. the waterpipe called argila (or hookah) was created in persia. the pipes of the rich were made of finely crafted glass and precious metals while common people used coconuts with bamboo tubing, and these were used to smoke cannabis before the arrival of tobacco. the two substances in combination became very popular and were also smoked in normal "dry" pipes. the waterpipe, however, remained the most common smoking tool until the introduction of the cigarette in the 20th century. foreign visitors to the region often remarked that smoking was immensely popular among persians. on ramadan, the muslim period of fasting when no food is eaten while the sun is up, among the first thing many persians did after sunset was light their pipes. both sexes smoked, but for women it was a private affair enjoyed in the seclusion of private homes. in the 19th century iran was one of the world's largest tobacco exporters, and the habit had by then become a national iranian trait. east asia a man smoking a kiseru on the cover of komon gawa ("elegant chats on fashion"), a novel by santō kyōden published in 1790 after the european discovery of the americas, tobacco spread to asia—first via spanish and portuguese sailors, and later by the dutch and english. spain and portugal were active in central and south america, where cigarettes and cigars were the smoking tools of choice, and their sailors smoked mostly cigars. the english and dutch had contact with the pipe-smoking natives of north america, and adopted the habit. while the southern europeans began smoking earlier, it was the long-stemmed pipes of the northerners that became popular in east and southeast asia. tobacco smoking arrived through expatriates in the philippines and was introduced as early as the 1570s. by the early 17th century the kiseru, a long-stemmed japanese pipe inspired by dutch clay pipes, was common enough to be mentioned in buddhist textbooks for children. the practice of tobacco smoking evolved as a part of the japanese tea ceremony by employing many of the traditional objects used to burn incense for tobacco smoking. the kō-bon (the incense tray) became the tabako-bon, the incense burner evolved into a pot for tobacco embers and the incense pot became an ashtray. during the edo period, weapons were frequently used as objects of ostentation, indicating wealth and social status. since only samurai were allowed to carry weapons, an elaborate kiseru slung from the waist served a similar purpose. after the meiji restoration and abolition of the caste system, many craftsmen who previously decorated swords switched to designing kiserus and buckles for tobacco pouches. though mass-production of cigarettes began in the late 19th century, not until after world war ii did the kiseru go out of style and become an object of tradition and relative obscurity. sub-saharan africa a nama woman smoking in the kalahari desert in namibia around 1600, french merchants introduced tobacco in what is now gambia and senegal. at the same time, caravans from morocco brought tobacco to the area around timbuktu, and the portuguese brought the commodity (and the plant) to southern africa. this established the popularity of tobacco throughout all of africa by the 1650s. imported tobacco and tobacco pipes became prized and valuable trading goods and were both quickly absorbed into african cultural traditions, rituals, and politics. the practice spawned a rich artistic tradition of decorated pipes of wood, ceramics, and eventually metal in an endless variety of themes and motifs of all shapes and sizes. tobacco and cannabis were used, much like elsewhere in the world, to confirm social relations, but also created entirely new ones. in what is today congo, a society called bena diemba ("people of cannabis") was organized in the late 19th century in lubuko ("the land of friendship"). the bena diemba were collectivist pacifists that rejected alcohol and herbal medicines in favor of cannabis. certain other herbs have been and still are smoked by certain african communities. tabwa shamans smoke lubowe (amaranthus dubius), a plant said to help shamans see invisible spirit sorcerers, even though there are no reports of the substance being hallucinogenic. some groups, such as the fang of gabon consume eboga (tabernanthe iboga), a mind-altering drug in religious rituals. in modern africa, smoking is, in most areas, considered an expression of modernity, and many of the strong adverse opinions that prevail in the west receive less attention. opium main article: opium an illustration of an opium den on the cover of le petit journal, july 5, 1903 in the 19th century, the practice of smoking opium became widespread in china. previously, opium had only been ingested via consumption, and then only for its medicinal properties (opium was an anaesthetic). the narcotic was also outlawed in china sometime in the early 18th century due to the societal issues it caused. due to a massive trade imbalance, however, foreign merchants started to smuggle opium into china via canton, to the chagrin of the chinese authorities. attempts by chinese official lin zexu to eliminate the trade led to the outbreak of the first opium war. the chinese defeat in the first and second opium wars resulted in the legalization of the importation of opium into china. opium smoking later spread with chinese immigrants and led to the establishment of numerous opium dens in china towns around south and southeast asia and western nations. in the latter half of the 19th century, opium smoking became popular in the artistic community in europe, especially in paris: artists' neighborhoods such as montparnasse and montmartre became virtual opium capitals. while opium dens that catered primarily to emigrant chinese continued to exist in china towns around the world, the trend among the european artists largely abated after the outbreak of world war i. social stigma early opposition ever since smoking was introduced outside of the americas, there has been much vehement opposition to it. arguments ranged from socio-economic, with tobacco called a usurper of good farmland, to purely moralistic, where many religiously devout individuals saw tobacco as another form of immoral intoxication. many arguments were presented to the effect that smoking was harmful, and even if the critics were in the end right about many of their claims, the complaints were usually not based on scientific arguments – or if they were, these often relied on humorism and other pre-modern scientific methods. dr eleazar duncon, 1606, wrote that tobacco "...is so hurtful and dangerous to youth that it might have the pernicious nation expressed in the name, and that it were as well known by the name of youths-bane as by the name of tobacco". early 17th-century descriptive notices of various characteristic types and fashions of men portray tobacconists and smokers as individuals who suffer from false self-images and mistaken illusions about the properties of tobacco taking. though physicians such as benjamin rush claimed tobacco use (including smoking) negatively impacted health as far back as 1798, not until the early 20th century did researchers begin to conduct serious medical studies. 1907 advertisement for grimault's indian cigarettes, emphasising their alleged efficacy for the relief of asthma and other respiratory conditions; these are cannabis cigarettes that contain leaves of belladonna as filler but no tobacco. nascent political resistance for more about the movement in nazi germany, see anti-tobacco movement in nazi germany. for information on the social acceptance of female smoking, see women and smoking. in the late 19th century, automated cigarette-making machinery was invented. factories, primarily located in the southern united states, allowed for the mass production of cigarettes at low costs. cigarettes became elegant and fashionable among society men as the victorian era gave way to the edwardian. in 1912, american dr. isaac adler was the first to strongly suggest that lung cancer was related to smoking. prior to world war i, lung cancer was a rare disease that most physicians never saw in their careers. with the postwar rise in cigarette smoking, however, the significant increase in lung cancer promoted nascent investigations into the link between smoking and cancer. in 1929, fritz lickint of dresden, germany, published a formal statistical description of a lung cancer–tobacco link, based on a study that showed lung cancer sufferers were likely to be smokers. lickint also argued that tobacco use was the best way to explain the fact that lung cancer struck men four or five times more often than women (since women smoked much less). in germany, anti-smoking groups, often associated with anti-liquor groups, first published advocacy against the consumption of tobacco in the journal der tabakgegner (the tobacco opponent), by the bohemian organization between 1912 and 1932. the deutsche tabakgegner (german tobacco opponents) was published in dresden from 1919 to 1935, and was the second anti-tobacco journal. after adolf hitler rose to power during the great depression, he condemned his earlier smoking habit as a waste of money. in later years, hitler viewed smoking as "decadent" and "the wrath of the red man against the white man, vengeance for having been given hard liquor," lamenting that "...so many excellent men have been lost to tobacco poisoning." nazi reproductive policy likewise strengthened the anti-smoking movement. women who smoked were considered vulnerable to premature aging and loss of physical attractiveness—unsuitable to be wives and mothers in a german family. werner huttig of the nazi party's rassenpolitisches amt (office of racial politics) said that a smoking mother's breast milk contained nicotine, a claim that modern research has verified. nazi political resistance to smoking, however, did not cross enemy lines. scientific rationalization a true breakthrough came in 1948, when the british epidemiologist richard doll published the first major studies that demonstrated that smoking could cause serious health damage. while some physicians in the united states once pitched cigarettes as health-improving products, some commentators now argue that it is unethical for physicians, as role models, to smoke at all. in 1950, richard doll published research in the british medical journal that showed a close link between smoking and lung cancer. four years later, in 1954 the british doctors study, a study of some 40,000 doctors over twenty years, confirmed the suggestion, based on which the uk government issued advice that smoking and lung cancer rates were related. the british doctors study lasted until 2001, with results published every ten years and final results published in 2004 by doll and richard peto. much early research was also done by dr. ochsner. reader's digest magazine for many years published frequent anti-smoking articles. in 1964, the united states surgeon general's report on smoking and health began the font, suggesting a link between smoking and cancer. this eventually led to bans on certain advertising, and requirements for health warning labels on tobacco products. in the 21st century, smoking has become stigmatized throughout western societies, but it is still a frequent practice among individuals, mostly from a lower socioeconomic background. research implies that the act of smoking generates intimidating impressions, and it has been suggested that individuals of low socioeconomic status are motivated to smoke by a desire to appear intimidating and forceful. a recent development is the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes. in the late 2010s, some health institutions began to praise them for helping people quit