The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of ProgressJanuary 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the first Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health. Although we now know that tobacco use causes a host of cancers and other illnesses and is still the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing more than 440,000 people each year, the 1964 landmark report was the first to definitively link smoking with lung cancer and heart disease. Get involved. Get free help quitting today!