I. Tyrrell, BEFORE THE SURGEON-GENERALS REPORT - PUBLIC DISCOURSE IN AUSTRALIA OVER TOBACCO ADDICTION TO 1964, Australian journal of politics and history, 44(2), 1998, pp. 177-190
Long before the contemporary debate over nicotine addiction, doctors,
alternative health professionals, journalists and moral reformers in A
ustralia discussed this issue in the media. It was assumed that tobacc
o was a powerful drug, and difficult to give up. Growing acknowledgmen
t of addiction to tobacco was linked to 1) the rise of the cigarette,
instead of pipe smoking; 2) the rise of use of other drugs in the afte
rmath of World War I; 3) the impact of the temperance movement and oth
er moral reformers. The use of the term ''addict'' increased over time
. The 1964 U.S. Surgeon-General's Report claim that tobacco smoking wa
s merely a ''habit'' temporarily inhibited public discussion of addict
ion. Scientific research and political will over the addiction issue l
agged behind commonsense observations of the effects of smoking.