Abstract
Summary: Tobacco was first introduced into Elizabethan England as a new addition to the pharmacopoeia and the non‐medical use of tobacco was condemned as being injurious to health. Attempts were made to discourage the recreational use of tobacco through controls over its price, availability and production, and through a stream of hostile pamphlets, verses and Royal Proclamations. Yet this multi‐faceted prevention policy was a failure. Within 100 years, Britain was actively promoting the consumption of tobacco throughout the world. This paper provides a brief description of how, over 300 years ago, a government's commitment to combatting the introduction of an addictive drug was undermined, and its policies reversed.