In 1952 the smoldering question of health suddenly surfaced. British doctors published a new study showing that cancer victims tended to be heavy smokers. The Reader’s Digest picked up the story, and wide publicity followed. By 1953 an anticigarette campaign seemed headed for success.

In 1962 the British Royal College of Physicians first warned against smoking, but 1981 found Britons buying 110 billion cigarettes.