Nicotiana
rustica is a variety of snuff grown in the Amazon for thousands of years. This
variety is very powerful, often contain up to ten times the amount of nicotine
than a standard Nicotiana tabacum leaf has. Nicotiana rustica, was the original
snuff that was planted from South to North America. But, for commercial
purposes, Nicotiana tabacum, finally became more profitable for its softness
and less harsh quality that allowed people to be able to smoke more.
Mapacho tobacco in Belen markey, Iquitos Peru
Snuff or Mapacho tobacco as it is known
in the Amazon area , is the sacred medicine of the people across the America
continent . It is often said that the snuff is the plant called
"Grandpa" by which all other plants gradually emerged. In the Amazon,
the snuff has an almost universal appeal as medicine, among most of the
indigenous groups. It is made in different ways, either smoked, snorted, or
drunk. When we use smoking as a way of cleasing energy; space and a person. In
North America the passage of the pipe is a symbol of this type of use. When important
decisions were to be made, before anyone spoke, he and the entire group inhale
snuff pipe first. Thus, it was said that the man was going to speak straight
from his heart and therefore , he will tell the truth.