From the Ashtray of History

The Atlantic uses their archives to offer a little historical perspective on tobacco in the U.S.. Here's the lede:

For decades, scientists have noted a strong correlation between smoking, lung cancer, and high death rates. But only recently has government at both the national and local levels taken aim at the practice of smoking. Why, one might wonder, has it taken so long? As this collection of Atlantic articles—spanning more than a century—makes clear, the debate on that seemingly straightforward question is older and more complex than one might think.

They also provide a timeline on anti-tobacco movements going back to 1624.