By Vania Raebel | June 21, 2019
The tobacco smoke enema, involving the introduction of tobacco smoke via the rectum, was a practice employed by the Native Americans. This was introduced to the Europeans, who in turn adopted the practice as a cure for different ailments and to promote respiration.
The tobacco kits were comprised of a tube and bellows. Tobacco was considered to be a medicine by the Europeans when it was first introduced from the New World and was even used as a treatment for drowsiness and colds. The nicotine in tobacco was eventually discovered to be poisonous, prompting the end of the practice.
