A cigarette is a product consumed via smoking and manufactured out of cured and finely cut tobacco leaves, which are combined with other additives, then rolled or stuffed into a paper-wrapped cylinder. Being such a common product, cigarettes have many nicknames; see nicknames for cigarettes. Cigarettes are proven to be addictive, as well as a cause of lung cancer and birth defects.

A cigarette is distinguished from a cigar by its smaller size (generally less than 120 mm in length and 10 mm in diameter), use of processed leaf, and white paper wrapping; cigars are typically composed entirely of whole leaf tobacco. Cigarettes were largely unknown in the English-speaking world before the Crimean War, when British soldiers began emulating their Ottoman Turkish comrades, who resorted to rolling their tobacco with newsprint
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Before the Second World War many manufacturers gave away collectible cards, one in each packet of cigarettes. This practice was discontinued to save paper during the war and was never generally reintroduced, though for a number of years Natural American Spirit cigarettes included "vignette" cards depicting endangered animals and American historical events; this series was discontinued in 2003. On April 1, 1970 President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, banning cigarette advertisements on television in the United States starting on January 2, 1971. However some tobacco companies attempted to circumvent the ban by marketing new brands of cigarettes as "little cigars"; examples included Tijuana Smalls, which came out almost immediately after the ban took effect, and Backwoods Smokes, which reached the market in the winter of 1973–1974 and whose ads used the slogan, "How can anything that looks so wild taste so mild."
Beginning on April 1, 1998, the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to people under 18 is now prohibited by law in all fifty states of the United States. The legal age of purchase has been additionally raised to 19 in Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey, Utah, and Nassau, Suffolk, and Onondaga Counties in New York. Legislation was pending as of 2004 in some other states, including California to raise the age to 19 or even to 21. In Massachusetts and Virginia, parents and guardians are allowed to give cigarettes to minors, but sales to minors are prohibited.
Similar laws exist in many other countries. In Canada, most of the provinces require smokers to be 19 years of age to purchase cigarettes (except for Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta, where the age is 18). However, the minimum age only concerns the purchase of tobacco, not use. Alberta, however, does have a law which prohibits the possession or use of tobacco products by all persons under 18, punishable by a $100 fine. Australia, and Pakistan have a nationwide ban on the selling of all tobacco products to people under the age of 18.
In the UK, cigarettes can legally be sold only to people aged 16 and over. However it is not illegal for people under this age to buy (or attempt to buy) cigarettes, which means that only the retailer is breaking the law by selling to people under the age of 16. From October 2007 in England and Wales, the legal purchase age will rise to 18 — in line with alcohol — in an attempt to increase public health. Scotland and Northern Ireland will probably follow suit. There is also plans drawn up by the Department of Health to ban the sale of the smaller ten-packs in a bid to cut under-aged smoking.
Most countries in the world have a legal smoking age of 18. Six exceptions are Austria, Belguim, Germany, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and The Netherlands, where the age is 16. Since January 1, 2007 all cigarette machines in public places in Germany must attempt to verify a customers age by requiring the insertion of a debit card. Turkey, which has one of the highest percentage of smokers in its population,[citation needed] has a legal age of 18. Another curiosity is Japan, one of the highest tobacco consuming nations, which requires purchasers to be 20 years of age (Suffrage in Japan is 20 years old.) However, due to the prevalence of cigarette vending machines in the most public of places the effectiveness of an underage ban is in doubt. In other countries, such as Egypt or India (especially Kerala) it is legal to use and purchase tobacco products regardless of age.
Some police departments in the United States occasionally send an underaged teenager into a store where cigarettes are sold, and have the teen attempt to purchase cigarettes, with their own or no ID. If the vendor then completes the sale, the store is issued a fine.[15] Similar enforcement practices are regularly performed by Trading Standards Officers in the UK.
Smoking bans: A cigarette disposal canister, encouraging the public to dispose of their cigarettes properly.Many governments impose restrictions on smoking tobacco, especially in public areas. The primary justification has been the alleged negative health effects of secondhand smoke. Laws vary by country and locality.