2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the first Surgeon General's
Report on Smoking and Health.
This series of videos celebrates the progress made and the work
still to be done to end tobacco-related disease
and death, and to make the next generation tobacco-free.
(Music)
(Narrator) It was 1964, and cigarette commercials on TV
were as common as, well, cigarette smoking.
But all of that was about to change dramatically,
as Surgeon General Luther Terry shocked the nation
by announcing that smoking caused lung cancer,
and was linked to heart disease.
(Dr. Luther Terry) The strongest relationship between cigarette smoking
and health was in the field of lung cancer.
There is a very strong relationship,
and probably a causal relationship
between heart disease and cigarette smoking.
(Narrator) Since that time, one Surgeon General after another
has added startling evidence to what
we know about the devastating effects of smoking
and second hand smoke.
(Dr. Tom Frieden) 50 years ago, it was polite to ask somebody,
would you like a smoke?
Today, it would be deeply impolite not to ask,
do you mind if I smoke?
(Music)
When you traveled on an aircraft and you were served a meal,
you got a four-pack of cigarettes with your meal.
And everybody got those.
It was part of the social norm.
Everybody smoked.
(Narrator) In the early 1960's, nearly 45% of Americans smoked.
And less than half knew that smoking caused cancer and heart
disease.
Tobacco use was the norm, and tobacco marketing
was everywhere.
(Commercial soundtrack) Play ball.
Brooklyn Dodger baseball, brought to you
by the makers of Lucky Strike.
(Dr. Alan Blum) We were big Brooklyn Dodger fans.
And my father turned to me and was very upset,
because the Lucky Strike cigarette
commercial had come on the air.
He said, you know, you ought to get out our big tape recorder
and record these, because one day no one
will believe that sports and smoking could go together.
(Narrator) Tobacco companies also used special promotions
to sell their products.
(Dr. Pamela Ling) So there was a Camel Cash program, and a Marlboro Miles
program, where you could save up the points and then get prizes.
(Narrator) The public gradually became more aware
of the dangers of smoking, as anti-smoking ads
reached millions of people.
(Music)
(Commerical soundtrack) Like father, like son?
Think about it.
(Dr. David Satcher) I think we have changed, as a society,
in terms of the way we view smoking.
It used to be cool.
And it was what everybody wanted to do.
And now, it's sort of odd.
It's strange.
It's not socially acceptable.
(Narrator) In 1971, Surgeon General Jesse Steinfeld
ushered in yet another sea change
in what was socially acceptable when it came to smoking.
(Don Shopland) He talked about that he thought it was high time
that we actually looked at cigarette smoking
in the context of what it does to the non-smoker.
And that non smokers have a right
to breathe clean and fresh air.
(Matt Myers) We have made enormous progress.
Smoking among our nation's children
has been cut by more than half.
That will literally save tens of millions
of lives over the next 20 to 25 years.
(Dr. Tom Frieden) Progress came from many sources.
It came from people from inside the health care field
and outside the health care field,
and it came from federal leadership.
It came from academia.
It came from clinical medicine.
It came from community activism.
And all of those are going to be essential to make
progress in the years to come.
(Narrator) This video is a production of the Office of the Surgeon
General and CDC'S Office on Smoking and Health.