Smoking Cessation Drugs

It has been 50 years since U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry released the first report of the “Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health” in 1964. The Advisory [Page 1302]Committee took a bold step in informing the U.S. public about the devastating effects of smoking, namely, that smoking leads to lung and laryngeal cancer in men, is the probable cause of lung cancer in women, and is a major risk factor for the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (i.e., bronchitis and emphysema).

The report changed the world’s understanding about the impact of tobacco use. It not only emphasized the addictive nature of nicotine, which makes smoking difficult to quit, but the report also stressed the toxicity of secondhand smoke and the critical importance of ...