Smoking: The Government Report

The conclusion was just about what everybody had expected. "On the basis of prolonged study and evaluation," the 150,000-word report declared, "the committee makes the following judgment: Cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the U.S. to warrant appropriate remedial action." More significant than the words was their source: it was the unanimous report of an impartial committee of top experts in several health fields, backed by the full authority of the U.S. Government.

The basic facts about the ill effects of smoking on health have been known for...