In 1986, the Office on Smoking and Health became part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This office was made to target the preventable health issue of smoking.

The health consequences of cigarette smoking and of the use of other tobacco products have been extensively documented in the 18 previous Surgeon General’s reports issued by the Public Health Service. More than 300,000 premature deaths that are directly attributable to tobacco use–particularly cigarette smoking–occur each year in the United States.