7. The British government warned of the dangers of tobacco use in 1604
King James VI and I, of Scotland, England and Ireland, loathed the use of tobacco by his subjects. It was he for whom the colony of Jamestown was named, as well as the James River on which it was located. Nonetheless, King James was not appreciative of the product of the new colony. In 1604, 360 years before the US Surgeon General issued his first report on the harmful aspects of smoking, James made his position on smoking clear in pamphlet he titled, A Counterblaste to Tobacco. James unfairly blamed the natives in America for exposing Europeans to tobacco use. He condemned the exposure by smokers to others, who were forced to inhale what later became known as second-hand smoke. He imposed strict taxes on tobacco, which raised the price to consumers.
In justification of his actions James wrote smoking was, “A custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmefull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke stinking fume thereof, neerest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomelesse.” Two decades later he had a change of heart. He created a Royal monopoly on tobacco from Virginia and Bermuda, helping the colonies to increase their profitability. In 1624 over 7,000 shops, markets, and taverns sold tobacco in London alone, the vast majority of it from the plantations in Virginia. For merchants and tavernkeepers to sell tobacco to patrons, a license which cost fifteen pounds annually was required. The fifteen pounds went directly into the Royal treasury, meaning the author of A Counterblaste to Tobacco made considerable profit from the sale of the hated product.