50 Years Since Smoking Became Bad

American Icons, Featured Article
on January 10, 2014

In January 1964, U.S. Surgeon General Luther L. Terry issued the first government report linking smoking to disease and death. It ushered in an era of regulation that 50 years later has helped to cut the smoking rate for American adults by more than half — from 42 percent in the early 1960s to 18 percent in 2014.

Do you remember when cigarette ads were banned from TV, public service ads filled the airwaves and no smoking sections began appearing in restaurants?

Milestones in the war on tobacco: