Officially, the so-called “war on tobacco” is said to have started in 1964 with publication of "Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General,” the first major report to document smoking and its relation to health. That report concluded cigarette smoking caused lung cancer in men and might cause lung cancer in women also. Later that year the American Medical Association (AMA) officially called smoking "a serious health hazard."

The war has been raging ever since. In those days, the only weapon available for those who wanted to quit smoking was will power. Although the first national antismoking coalition, the National Interagency Council on Smoking and Health, also was formed that same year, there were no groups or organizations out there offering information and assistance for smokers.

Somebody Knew

That does not mean the announcement that smoking caused cancer and was a serious health risk came as a shock to everyone, especially the tobacco companies. Scientists and researchers there had come to the same conclusion as early as the 1950s, but they were not telling anyone. In fact, the companies were advocating exactly the opposite – that smoking was not dangerous.

It was not until recent years that information about the dangers of smoking being known for so long became part of the “official” history of smoking cessation. That information became public over a number of years when some of the scientists involved in the tobacco company research came forward and other company documents detailing the research and its cover up were subpoenaed in various legal actions against the cigarette manufacturers.

The War Heats Up

Efforts to get Americans to quit smoking have been ongoing ever since. In 1965, Congress required a warning be placed on all cigarette packages: "Caution: Cigarette Smoking May be Hazardous to Your Health." Reports of the U.S. Surgeon General annually decried the dangers of smoking – and the benefits of quitting. By 1970, Congress banned cigarette advertising on radio and television and placed a more strongly worded warning on cigarette packages: "Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined that Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to Your Health."

The Patch

Will power was supplemented with science in 1971 when Pharmacia developed a nicotine-laced chewing gum for people who wanted to quit smoking. It was approved for use by the United States by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1984. Also in the early 1980s, Duke University researcher Jed Rose and his colleagues developed the now-famous nicotine patch.

As of 2000, approximately 15 years after these smoking cessation aids were brought to market, total sales in the United States of nicotine-based aids reached $700 million. Many millions more are spent on other types of smoking cessation methods, which include psychological, aversion, and hypnosis therapies.

feedback@stopthesmoke.com