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Historical Context

Selected Milestones in Tobacco Research, Promotion and Surveillance

1950 Studies showing a link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer were published (1,2).
1954 Additional findings linking smoking and lung cancer were published (3,4).
1955 The Current Population Survey (CPS), conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, collected the first federal statistics on smoking prevalence in the United States (5)
1956 The Surgeon General of the United States, Leroy E. Burney, convened a panel to assess the evidence on the association between cigarette smoking and health (6,7).
1962 The next Surgeon General, Luther L. Terry, established second expert committee, independent of the first, to again review the evidence on the relationship between smoking and lung cancer (8).
1964 The Surgeon General of the United States, Luther L. Terry, issued the first report of the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health (9).
1965 The U.S. Congress adopted the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act which required warning labels on cigarette packages and annual reporting by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to the U.S. Congress on the health consequences of smoking (10).
1965 The National Health Interview Survey first included questions on tobacco use, which were repeated in 1966 (11).
1966 The Division of Health Interview Statistics of the National Center for Health Statistics administered the first year of the 1966-1968 Current Population Survey (CPS) smoking supplements, under contract with the U.S. Census Bureau. Data collection continued through 1968 (5).
1969 The U.S. Congress adopted the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act which prohibited cigarette advertising on television and radio (10).
1980 Promoting Health, Preventing Disease. Objectives for the Nation was published. This was the Nation’s first set of national health objectives, which established a target date of 1990, and included objectives for reducing tobacco use (12,13).
1988 The National Health Interview Survey first included questions on environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) (14).
1990 Healthy People 2000 Health Objectives for the Nation was published. This was the second set of national health objectives, which established a target date of 2000, and included objectives for increasing reducing tobacco use (15).
1993 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a report on the health risks of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure (16,17).
2000 Healthy People 2010 Health Objectives for the Nation was published. This was the third set of national health objectives, which established a target date of 2010, and included objectives for reducing tobacco use (18).
2004 The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) issued a report on exposure to tobacco smoke and involuntary smoking (19).
2006 The Surgeon General’s Report on the Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke was released (20).
2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was signed and the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) was established at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some FDA’s responsibilities under the law include setting performance standards, reviewing premarket applications for new and modified risk tobacco products, requiring new warning labels, and establishing and enforcing advertising and promotion restrictions.
2010 Ending the Tobacco Epidemic: A Tobacco Control Strategic Action Plan for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was issued. November 10, 2010.
2010 Healthy People 2020 Health Objectives for the Nation – Launched Dec 2, 2010. This is the fourth set of national health objectives and includes objectives for reducing tobacco use in the U.S. population.
2012 New FDA graphic warning labels required on cigarette packaging designed to encourage cessation and discourage uptake of smoking.
2016 FDA’s regulatory authority was extended to include all tobacco products, including all cigars (including premium ones), hookah tobacco, pipe tobacco, nicotine gels, and dissolvables, as well as e-cigarettes (also called electronic cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), that did not previously fall under the FDA’s authority.

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