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Tobacco was first imported to Spain and Portugal in the early sixteenth century, and it immediately generated fierce controversy. Early proponents in England praised its medicinal benefits, but others condemned it as a "heathen fume." One of its most scathing critics was James I, who reputedly became ill after his first attempt at smoking. The king warned his subjects in this tract that smoking led to depravity and stated that it is "a custom loathsome to the eye--hateful to the nose--harmful to the brain--dangerous to the lungs--and, in the black stinking fumes therof, nearest resembling the horrid Stygian fumes of the pit that is bottomless." Although published anonymously, the authorship of Counterblaste was an open secret, and it became one of the best known of the tobacco tracts. James's warnings were ignored and the use of tobacco increased rapidly during his reign. Nine years after the publication of Counterblaste, John Rolfe exported the first shipment of Virginia-grown tobacco to England. London merchants were immediately enthusiastic and offered to buy as much tobacco as Jamestown could produce. Virginia exported 20,000 pounds of tobacco in 1617 and twice that amount the following year. When the royal coffers began to fill up from the taxes and duties levied on this crop, the king's criticisms of this "filthy novelty" eased.
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