Cigarette

Cigarettes are a tobacco product manufactured and "smoked" by humans. Cigarettes have been around for hundreds of years, as have cigars.

Cigarettes feature individual waterproof seals that protect them from moisture damage, and they also feature "ignition ends" that light up when they are tapped, negating the need for lighters or other fire-producing ordinance.

Some ODSTs like to smoke "contraband" cigarettes which do not have ignition ends; instead, they use "strike anywhere" matches issued to them by their commanders. This "contraband" moniker may mean that cigarettes have become largely illegal in 2552 because of their detrimental effects on health.

This may not be the case in the civilian population, however, as numerous cigarette butts can be found on the ground alongside piles of trash in New Mombasa and its outskirts. There are also several "No Smoking" signs on buildings in New Mombasa. It is possible that a certain number of cigarettes can be smoked in an amount of time by a marine of the UNSC, or that certain kinds of cigarettes are legal to smoke. ODSTs may prefer to use a type of illegal cigarette, one that needs to be manually lit in order to smoke. It is even possible that the UNSC has banned cigarettes. However, this would not explain why Captain Keyes has had a pipe for decades.

The only person so far mentioned as a smoker of these is Corporal Harland, although Private Walker accepted one Harland offered him. The increase in popularity of Tobacco Gum may have contributed to the decline of smoking. John also encountered a guard smoking a cigarette while fighting rebels at Camp New Hope on Victoria.