When you think of historical lies, it’s likely the Clinton/Lewinsky affair, the Watergate scandal, and the Bernie Madoff scheme come to mind. However, they don’t hold a candle to the biggest whopper ever told to the American public. That title goes to the tobacco industry. We know that cigarettes are extremely addictive and unhealthy, even deadly. The U.S. Surgeon General even issued a report on the dangers of cigarette smoking as far back as 1964. Manufacturers, however, claimed exactly the opposite. These lies weren’t even back in the 1950s either. They were as recent as 1994, when James W. Johnson of R. J. Reynolds said, "Cigarette smoking is no more addictive than coffee, tea or Twinkies.” That, of course, is utter nonsense. In fact, cigarettes are just as addictive as cocaine, alcohol and opioids. The tobacco industry was fully aware that nicotine is addictive, as research repeatedly showed, but continued to deny it. The CEO of Philip Morris likened them to Gummi Bears, rather than hard drugs, and cigarette company leaders repeatedly denied that there was any health risk to smokers or those who inhale secondhand smoke. Today, of course, it is widely accepted based on decades of research that both first and secondhand smoke are severely detrimental, and that nicotine is highly addictive. In fact, smoking is now known to harm just about every organ in the body, and leads to cancer, emphysema, heart disease and so on. Cigarette smoking causes one out of every 5 deaths in the U.S., or more than 480,000 deaths each year, including from secondhand smoke. So, the Liar, Liar Pants On Fire Award goes to………..the tobacco industry.
