1964 U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry issues the first surgeon general report citing health risks associated with smoking. U.S. Congress passes the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, requiring a surgeon general's warning on cigarette packs. All broadcast advertising for cigarettes is banned. 1972 Philip Morris's Marlboro becomes the best-selling brand in the world. 1982 U. S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop finds that secondhand smoke may cause lung cancer.
Smoking is banned on U.S. passenger flights of less than six hours' duration.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the 1965 warning labels on cigarette packs does not shield companies from lawsuits. Feb 1994 FDA Commissioner David Kessler announces plans to consider regulation of tobacco as a drug, stating that tobacco manufacturers use nicotine to satisfy addiction. The tobacco industry argues in U.S. district court in Greensboro, N.C., that the FDA does not have the power to regulate tobacco. The tobacco industry immediately appeals the ruling. New taxes paid by smokers will save the industry billions of dollars by reducing the amount of money companies would owe according to the settlement.