Surgeon General Warning In the years after World War II, the U.S. government became more involved in medical research. One of the most significant studies, undertaken in the early '60s, was the Surgeon General's report on the effects of smoking. The study confirmed that smoking cigarettes increased a person's risk of cancer. Following the results of this study, the Federal Trade Commission announced, on this date in 1964, that cigarette manufacturers would be required to include warnings on their packaging about the harmful effects of smoking. When the ruling on warning labels took effect in 1965, more than 42 percent of men and women aged 18 and older were smoking. Thanks to nationwide educational campaigns by the government and anti-smoking legislation, that figure has since dropped by more than 40 percent.
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