On Saturday, January 11, 1964, United States Surgeon General Luther Terry released a groundbreaking government report announcing the conclusive link between smoking and cancer.
To limit the announcement’s immediate effects on the stock market, he released it on Saturday when the market was closed. Why?
Smoking’s history dates back to as early as 5000 BC as a ritual in South America, and in the United States, the 1930s to 1950s saw doctors actually appearing on cigarette advertisements, some even claiming smoking’s benefits. However, as early as the 1930s, physicians saw an increase in lung cancer cases. After the first medical studies in Great Britain began pointing out connections between smoking and lung cancer in the 1940s, American cigarette companies lobbied the government to keep smoking legal and advertised reduced levels of tar and nicotine in their products.
Where are we now?
According to the American Lung Association, progress has been made to decrease the cigarette smoking rates.
- Long term smoking rates have fallen 73% among adults from 46% in 1965 to 11.6% in 2022
- Long term smoking rates have fallen 86% among youth, from 36.4% in 1997 to 3.8% in 2021
But did we just replace tobacco?
The concern now is electronic cigarettes: vaping
- Current users of electronic cigarettes increased 62% from 2014-2022
- Increase among middle students increased 667%
- Increase among high school students increased 567%
In 2022, more than 825, 000 children started using e-cigarettes, or more than 2,200 per day.
Are we repeating the same mistakes of the 1930s? People were thinking vaping was the safe alternative to smoking. Now vaping has been found to cause similar effects as smoking on lung function and cardiovascular function.
See more information at American Lung Association.
