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