On This Day In Market History: Surgeon General First Warns Of Smoking Hazard
|What Happened
On this day in 1964, the U.S. government issued its first health warning against cigarettes.
Where Was The Market
The S&P 500 traded around $76.45, and the Dow traded near $766.08.
What Else Was Going On In The World
A pack of cigarettes cost about $1.60, or 1.4 hours of labor for minimum wage ($1.15) workers.
The First Onslaught
The Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service published the first of many advisories on the potential hazards of smoking.
A scientific literature review revealed causality between cigarettes and chronic bronchitis, lung and laryngeal cancer in men, and lung cancer in women.
The report sparked yet-ongoing government intervention in the American tobacco industry. Over the course of the next few years, Congress adopted the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 and the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1969 to regulate the tobacco industry’s promotional strategies.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claim the efforts catalyzed a sharp decline in smokers. As of 2014, the U.S. smoking population had fallen from 60 percent to below 20 percent of Americans, according to CBS.
“The antismoking campaign is a major public health success with few parallels in the history of public health,” the CDC wrote on its website. The agency continues to expand its intervention methods much to the detriment of the tobacco industry. Last year’s announced nicotine crackdown prompted a sharp selloff in cigarette stocks.
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers.