Through the Looking Glass: Revisiting Smoking and Health.

Abstract

January 11, 2024, marked the 60th anniversary of the initial U.S. Surgeon General report "Smoking and Health," which definitively linked cigarette smoking and lung cancer.¹ Similar to the old Virginia Slims slogan "you've come a long way, baby," smoking rates have diminished greatly since the release of that report.² However, smoking still represents the leading cause of preventable deaths.³ Numerous countries have enacted policies aimed at decreasing conventional cigarette use, such as including warning labels on tobacco products, limiting advertising, and imposing bans on particular products. Such measures have contributed to significant reductions in cigarette use.