BEFORE THE SURGEON-GENERALS REPORT - PUBLIC DISCOURSE IN AUSTRALIA OVER TOBACCO ADDICTION TO 1964

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.