At the turn of the century less than one million cigarettes were consumed annually in this country as compared to the over six hundred billion cigarettes consumed annually today. The sudden and enormous increase in the use of cigarettes came about for a variety of reasons. Cigarettes are less expensive and less offensive than other forms of tobacco, and for these reasons have been taken up by large numbers of women. Cigarette smoke is milder than smoke from cigars and pipes making inhalation easier and thus nicotine adsorption into the blood stream more rapid. Once a person starts smoking cigarettes, addiction in the sense of building up a physiological and psychological dependance, can quickly follow.
Cigarettes are very profitable to manufacture.
Over the years cigarette companies have had immense sums of money to invest in advertising, promotion and propaganda. Scientists first became suspicious as cigarettes were a cause of illness and death as early as 1930. One reason was the increase of in incidence of lung cancer at that time. In 1930 three thousand Americans died of lung cancer. By 1950 eighteen thousand died.