| From early America and through over half of the | | | | time to really absorb into the consciousness of the |
| 20th century, tobacco was one of the most essential | | | | American public. After all, it had been so many years |
| parts of the national economy. There are still plenty | | | | of unknown damages, that the people were likely to |
| of tobacco companies out there--but the market is | | | | remain uninformed--because they would not have |
| less powerful now because of research and cancer | | | | expected this news at all. |
| studies. The Surgeon General's Warning has certainly | | | | In the early 1950's the magazine "Reader's Digest" |
| had an effect--as the cost of tobacco products rises | | | | published an article entitled "Cancer by the Carton" |
| continually. | | | | which discussed individual details specifically about the |
| At first in the history of tobacco, the negative | | | | dangers of smoking. Following this phenomenon, more |
| effects of smoking tobacco were virtually unknown, | | | | and more publications provided informative articles |
| and therefore tobacco seemed harmless. However, | | | | similar to the one in "Reader's Digest" and cigarette |
| by the time we reached the early 20th century, | | | | sales actually began to reduce. |
| information about the health effects of tobacco | | | | By the mid 1950's the tobacco industry began its |
| began to be published in newspapers and magazines | | | | counter-attack. The tobacco sellers and researchers |
| all over the world. | | | | conducted their own studies of the effects of |
| The history of tobacco indicates that in Germany in | | | | cigarettes on someone's health. This is when tobacco |
| 1930, scientists were able to make a distinct | | | | companies started selling additional merchandise, |
| correlation between cancer and smoking tobacco. | | | | cigarettes with more filters and lower-tar. Because |
| However, in the history of tobacco on American soil, | | | | people loved to smoke so much, and because they |
| it was eight years later when Doctor Raymond Pearl, | | | | had been brought to the illusion that there were |
| a professor at Johns Hopkins University, declared | | | | "healthier" cigarettes available, the sales market for |
| that smokers (more often than not) do not live as | | | | tobacco was up again. But the new, light cigarettes |
| long as non-smokers. | | | | were, in truth, no healthier than regular cigarettes. |
| In the history of tobacco in our country, even by the | | | | Tobacco products are virtually impossible to quit for |
| year 1944 the American Cancer Society claimed that | | | | many people. Some say that an addiction to tobacco |
| no absolutely definite scientific evidence had been | | | | is harder to break than an addiction to heroin. |
| found that would link lung cancer or any other kind of | | | | Therefore, there is still a necessary market for |
| cancer to smoking. Of course, now the history of | | | | tobacco and tobacco products, because some people |
| tobacco has reached the point that we are fully | | | | will always be people smokers. The history of |
| aware of the dangers. We now know that there are | | | | tobacco may have altered our perspective and |
| dangerous, cancer-causing carcinogens in smoking | | | | lowered the number of people who smoke, but there |
| tobacco that can end your life likely sooner than you | | | | is not a chance that smoking will ever be eradicated |
| would like to. | | | | completely. |
| Nonetheless, even with this information took a long | | | | |