The harmful effects of smoking have been known since the mid-1950s when the link between smoking and lung cancer was statistically proven. Dr. Morton L. Levin of the Roswell Park Memorial Institute in Buffalo, NY a state cancer research-treatment center, made this connection. Subsequently, he boldly wrote to the presidents of seven leading tobacco companies suggesting that they voluntarily label all cigarette packaging with a warning that excessive smoking is dangerous to health. At that time, it created a firestorm of controversy, with the tobacco companies defending their positions. I had the good fortune to work under Dr. Levin during the summer of 1965 in a National Summer Science program. Packages were finally labeled in 1964.
