Christopher Columbus was probably the first European to see someone smoking. These were the local Native Americans, who smoked tobacco in doses vastly greater than those used in modern cigarettes. It put them into a trance-like state, and was used for this purpose by witch doctors in particular. Columbus, however, did not describe this experience. Amerigo Vespucci, in 1505, was the first to describe tobacco smoking by Native Americans. Jacques Carter, in 1535, was the first European to taste tobacco in America.
