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The first publication about effects of smoking was made public in 1930, but till 1930 tobacco companies and health representative were on same part of the wall and sometimes were closely connected.

For example, The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published its first cigarette advertisement in 1933. This publication was available for public in printed form for over 20 years. JAMA stated that it had done so only “after careful consideration of the extent to which cigarettes were used by physicians in practice.”

New York State Journal of Medicine published ads for Chesterfield with claim “Just as pure as the water you drink... and practically untouched by human hands.”

Famous Camel slogan “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette” was and is one of the most discussed cigarette ads. It was launched in 1946 and ran for eight years in magazines and on the radio. Though, this motto is a genuine truth. Three independent research groups found in a interesting statistics. A total of 113,597 doctors, family physicians, surgeons, diagnosticians, nose and throat specialists, doctors in every branch of medicine said were interviewed what cigarette they smoke and Camel was the leader among named brands. So, as you can see doctors also has their small weakness and are tempted by that mild smoke of Camel cigs.

The ridiculous moment is that at the same time when the ad was published in JAMA, the same paper published the first major study that affirmed the link of smoking with lung cancer. Passing two years, it was published another publication “Cancer by the Carton,” detailing the dangers of cigarettes.

Following those publications, sales of cigarettes fell for the first time in more than two decades. Tobacco companies initiated a backstroke immediately. It was created a research committee, called The Tobacco Industry Research Committee (TIRC), as an independent committee consisted also from doctors that attempted to tell the truth about smoking and its effects.

New organization was advertised in The New York Times and 447 other newspapers reaching more than 43 million Americans. The headline of the advertisement was titled “A Frank Statement to Cigarette Smokers.”

TIRC publication is a kind of head lighting of that anti-tobacco groups published but “forget” to mention. For example, it was stated that smokers do not live as long as non-smokers, but it wasn’t presented any proof that namely smoking is the main cause. This is an extract from that publication of TIRC:” We always have and always will cooperate closely with those whose task it is to safeguard the public health. For more than 300 years tobacco has given solace, relaxation, and enjoyment to mankind. At one time or another during those years critics have held it responsible for practically every disease of the human body. One by one these charges have been abandoned for lack of evidence.”

Moreover, till now it hasn’t been presented a direct proof that namely smoking is cause of many health diseases that doctors links to tobacco usage.

Interesting poll was made by Dr. Kenneth Warner in 1987. He asked the SAB's 13 current members if they believe that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer. Seven of the SAB members just refused to answer the question, even after Warner promised individual anonymity. The other six all answered in the affirmative.

It may be true, who knows, but even now we live in a century of modern technologies and great discoveries, smoking and its direct health effects remains an dilemma with many unanswered questions.