Document(s) 33 of 37

1st century BC	The Mayas of Central America smoke tobacco in religious ceremonies.
1492	Columbus “discovers” tobacco upon arrival in America.
1535	Jacques Cartier encounters tobacco on his second voyage to Canada.
1560	France’s ambassador to Portugal, Jean Nicot, ships tobacco seeds to the Queen Mother of France, believing that tobacco would cure many diseases.
1604	King James I writes A Counterblaste to Tobacco, condemning smoking.
1670	New France’s Sovereign Council imposes duties on tobacco.
1676	Residents of New France are prohibited from smoking or carrying tobacco on the streets.
1739	Canada exports tobacco to France for first time.
1761	In England, first known clinical report links tobacco with cancer.
1854–56	Soldiers return home to England and France from Crimean War with hand-rolled cigarettes obtained from the Turks, increasing the popularity of cigarettes.
1858	Macdonald Tobacco is established in Montreal.
1878	House of Commons defeats resolution to abolish tobacco taxes.
1881	Cigarette-making machine is patented. (Machine becomes operational in 1884.)
1890s	Safe, portable match is developed.
1891	British Columbia prohibits the sale of tobacco to minors. (Other jurisdictions soon follow: Ontario and Nova Scotia in 1892; New Brunswick in 1893; and Northwest Territories in 1896.)
1895	American Tobacco Company moves into Canada.
	Canadian Cigar and Tobacco Journal is established and would continue to be published until the late 1950s.
1903	House of Commons passes resolution supporting a ban on cigarettes, but no law is passed.

	Minister of Justice Charles Fitzpatrick introduces Criminal Code amendment bill that includes a provision banning the sale of tobacco to persons under 18. The tobacco provision is dropped from the bill at the committee stage.
	Royal Commission reports on the American Tobacco Company’s anticompetitive practices in Canada.
1904	House of Commons again approves resolution to ban cigarettes.
	Bill to ban cigarettes receives second reading and committee approval in House of Commons, but does not receive final passage.
1906	Benson & Hedges moves into Canada.
	Federal Department of Agriculture establishes the Tobacco Branch.
1908	Parliament passes the Tobacco Restraint Act prohibiting the sale of tobacco to persons under 16, and prohibiting such persons from purchasing or possessing tobacco.
	Imperial Tobacco is established through a formal merger of the American Tobacco Company and the Empire Tobacco Company.
1911	US Supreme Court, in an antitrust case, orders the breakup of the American Tobacco Company’s controlling position of the US tobacco industry.
1912	The present Imperial Tobacco is incorporated as a successor to the Imperial Tobacco formed in 1908.
1914	House of Commons Select Committee on Cigarette Evils conducts public hearings but makes no policy recommendations.
1914–18	Cigarettes are sent over to soldiers during World War I, thus providing a tremendous endorsement for cigarettes when soldiers returned home.
1921	Canadian Pacific Railway announces that it will add railway sleepers with smoking rooms for female passengers.
	Imperial Tobacco acquires the General Cigar Company.
1927	Montreal Gazette publishes the first Canadian advertisement with a woman smoking.
1930s	Ontario tobacco belt begins to develop.
1930	Imperial Tobacco acquires the Tuckett Tobacco Company.
1931	Agriculture Department first publishes The Lighter, a publication specializing in tobacco research. The publication would continue until 1990.
1938	A Commission concludes that tobacco companies are price fixing. Charges are laid, resulting in convictions; on appeal, all convictions but one are overturned on a technicality.

	Raymond Pearl finds that smokers have a lower life expectancy than nonsmokers.
1939	F.H. Müller finds a statistical link between lung cancer and smoking in a small-scale but seminal study.
1943	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (then Canada’s highest court) rejects challenge to provincial ability to impose tobacco taxes.
1947	Canadian Dr Norman Delarue finds a statistical association between lung cancer and smoking, but the study has a small sample size and is not published.
1949	Imperial Tobacco acquires Imperial Tobacco (Newfoundland) Ltd, just as Newfoundland was entering Confederation.
1950	First large-scale epidemiological studies showing a statistical association between lung cancer and smoking are published.
1950s	Big shift towards filter cigarettes occurs.
	Tobacco advertising and media reports contribute to increased sales for brands with lower tar yields.
1951	National Cancer Institute of Canada draws attention in newsletter to possible link between lung cancer and smoking.
	House of Commons, with the support of Health Minister Paul Martin, Sr, votes down proposal to establish a special committee to examine the “entire cigarette problem.”
	A vote in Ontario for an all-grower marketing board is defeated.
1952	Federal government reduces tobacco taxes after a rise in smuggling.
1953	Federal government further reduces tobacco taxes.
	Ernest Wynder and Evarts Graham find that the painting of cigarette smoke condensate (“tar”) on the backs of mice produces cancer.
1954	Preliminary results from an American prospective study led by Cuyler Hammond and Daniel Horn, and from a British prospective study led by Richard Doll and Bradford Hill, find that smoking is associated with increased lung cancer.
	In Canada, the tobacco industry gives its first grant to the National Cancer Institute of Canada to study lung cancer.
	Canadian Medical Association issues first public warning on the hazards of smoking.
	Federal Department of Health and Welfare initiates major study of the health effects of smoking, with Canadian war veterans as the participants.
	US-based Tobacco Industry Research Committee is established (later renamed Council for Tobacco Research).

	In the United States, the industry faces its first product liability lawsuit in Pritchard v. Liggett & Myers (dropped by plaintiff 12 years later).
	Benson & Hedges (Canada) becomes a Philip Morris subsidiary.
1957	Rothmans of Pall Mall enters the Canadian market.
	Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board is established.
1958	National Cancer Institute of Canada concludes that cigarette smokers have a greater risk of dying of lung cancer than nonsmokers and that risk increases with amount smoked.
1960s	Transnational tobacco industry actively enters markets in Latin America.
1960	First results of veterans study show that the group of cigarette smokers had 60% more deaths than the group of nonsmokers and that cigarette smoking was associated with an increase in lung cancer and heart disease.
1961	Canadian Medical Association concludes that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer.
1962	Royal College of Physicians of London in the United Kingdom issues historic report on the health consequences of smoking and recommending remedial action.
	National Cancer Institute of Canada declares that smoking is a cause of lung cancer.
	Benson & Hedges (Canada) acquires Tabacofina of Canada.
1963	Federal Health Minister Judy LaMarsh declares that smoking is a contributory cause of lung cancer and may also be associated with chronic bronchitis and coronary heart disease.
	MP Barry Mather introduces Bill C-75, a private member’s bill that would regulate tobacco. The bill is not passed. Several dozen private member’s bills would be introduced over the next 10 years.
	Canadian Medical Association President urges doctors to stop cigarette smoking, at least during professional duties.
	National Conference on Smoking and Health is held.
	Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers’ Council is established.
1964	Advisory Committee to US Surgeon General concludes that cigarette smoking is a cause of lung and laryngeal cancer in men, a probable cause of lung cancer in women, and the most important cause of chronic bronchitis.
	Canadian smoking and health program starts.
	Canadian tobacco industry adopts its first voluntary code on marketing practices.
	Imperial Tobacco begins to diversify.

	House of Commons Agriculture and Colonization Committee holds hearings on tobacco.
1965	The Department of National Health and Welfare commissions a national survey on smoking and, to the surprise of many, a bare majority of adults are nonsmokers.
	US Congress requires a warning on cigarette packages (warning first appears in 1966).
	United Kingdom bans broadcast advertising of cigarettes.
1966	Canadian per capita consumption peaks. (It begins to fall slowly in subsequent years.)
1967	Federal Cabinet approves a recommendation of Health Minister Allan MacEachen to prepare legislation to require tar and nicotine levels on packages and in advertising and to prohibit misleading cigarette advertisements, but legislation is not introduced.
	First World Conference on Smoking and Health is held in New York.
	An antismoking film, The Drag, is produced by the National Film Board. The film goes on to be nominated for an Academy Award in the animated cartoon category.
	In the United States, starting 1 July, the “Fairness Doctrine” results in widespread antismoking commercials in the broadcast media, some of which spill over into Canadian homes.
	US Surgeon General concludes that smoking is the principal cause of lung cancer.
1968	House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, Welfare and Social Affairs begins extensive investigation into tobacco issues. In testimony before Committee, Health Minister John Munro condemns tobacco advertising.
	Health and Welfare Canada releases results of its testing of tar and nicotine yields for major cigarette brands, a practice that would be repeated yearly for some time.
1969	CBC voluntarily stops accepting tobacco advertising.
	House of Commons Committee on Health, Welfare and Social Affairs recommends that tobacco advertising be banned and that many other tobacco-control measures be adopted.
1970	Incentive promotions peak at 63% of the Canadian cigarette market.
	Tobacco companies announce voluntary end to such promotions.
	First World Health Assembly resolution to prevent the harms caused by tobacco is passed.
	Imasco Ltd is created as a holding company for Imperial Tobacco and other subsidiaries.

1971	US ban on cigarette advertising and radio comes into effect on 2 January.
	Health Minister John Munro introduces Bill C-248 to ban cigarette advertising and require a warning on packages, but the bill is neither debated nor passed.
	Tobacco companies announce that effective 1972 they will voluntarily place a warning on cigarette packages and will not advertise cigarettes on radio or television.
	British Columbia bans tobacco advertising.
	Air Canada introduces no-smoking sections on planes.
	US Surgeon General finds that maternal smoking during pregnancy exerts a retarding influence on fetal growth.
1972	US Surgeon General concludes that smoke-filled rooms have carbon monoxide levels equal to or exceeding the legal limits for ambient air quality.
	BC Supreme Court rejects tobacco industry constitutional challenge to provincial advertising ban, ruling that the ban is within provincial jurisdiction. Nevertheless, BC government replaces total advertising ban with partial restrictions.
1973	Canadian National Railway sets aside nonsmoking sections on some trains between Montreal and Toronto.
1974	Canadian Council on Smoking and Health is founded.
	Non-Smokers’ Rights Association is founded.
	R.J. Reynolds buys Macdonald Tobacco, renaming the new subsidiary RJR – Macdonaldobinson introduces Bill C-242, a private member’s bill requiring nonsmoking sections in planes, trains, and intercity buses. Although the bill received second reading in 1975 and was the subject of committee hearings, the bill did not receive final approval.
	Minnesota adopts landmark comprehensive state law restricting smoking in public places.
Mid-1970s	Trend to ultra light cigarettes of 5 mg of tar or less begins.
1975	Tobacco industry’s voluntary code is amended so that sponsorship promotions will not appear on television; the health warning will be included in print, transit, and some point-of-sale advertising; tar and nicotine yields will appear on packages and print advertisements; and the total industry spending limit on advertising can be increased with inflation.

1976	City of Ottawa passes first municipal bylaw in Canada restricting smoking in public places. (Bylaw comes into effect in 1977.)
1977	National Non-Smoking Week begins as an annual event in Canada.
	Swedish law comes into force requiring a series of rotated warnings on cigarette packages.
1978	Imasco acquires Shoppers Drug Mart.
1979	Toronto Transit Commission votes to stop accepting tobacco advertising effective in 1980.
	Nicotine gum appears in Canadian market on a prescription basis.
Early 1980s	Much stronger evidence accumulates that ETS harms nonsmokers.
1981	US Surgeon General concludes that there is no safe cigarette and that any risk reduction associated with lower yield cigarettes would be small compared with quitting smoking.
1982	Total annual market size in Canada peaks at about 73 billion cigarettes, including fine-cut equivalents.
	Tobacco taxes start to increase at a rate faster than inflation.
1983	Dramatic decline in per capita consumption begins, although there had been a small decline in 1982.
	Fifth World Conference on Smoking and Health is held in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
1984	Kingston Whig-Standard stops accepting tobacco advertising.
	Top skiers Steve Podborski and Ken Read refuse to accept trophies they had earned in the Export “A” Cup, the national ski championships.
	US Congress adopts law requiring four rotational health warnings on cigarette packages and advertisements.
1985	Federal tobacco taxes are increased by $2.00 a carton.
	National Strategy to Reduce Tobacco Use is established.
	Federal government announces it will stop funding any amateur sport organization that accepts a new tobacco sponsorship.
	Federal Agriculture Minister John Wise proposes to create a Canadian Flue-Cured Tobacco Marketing Agency; hearings are eventually held, but the agency is never established.
	Treasury Board announces voluntary guidelines on workplace smoking for federal public servants.
	Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada is established.

	Federal public servant Peter Wilson wins right to a smoke-free workplace in an adjudication before the Public Service Staff Relations Board. The ruling is appealed and later overturned on technical grounds.
	Aspen, Colorado becomes the first municipality in North America to ban smoking in all restaurants.
1986	Globe and Mail [Toronto] stops accepting tobacco advertising.
	Vancouver passes bylaw restricting smoking in the workplace.
	Quebec adopts law restricting smoking in some workplaces and public places. (Law comes into effect in 1987.)
	Rothmans of Pall Mall Canada and Benson & Hedges (Canada) merge to form Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc.
	Air Canada becomes first North American carrier to introduce flights that are entirely smoke free.
	US Surgeon General concludes that involuntary smoking is a cause of disease, including lung cancer, in otherwise healthy nonsmokers.
	Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General concludes that smokeless tobacco can cause cancer and can lead to nicotine addiction.
	MP Lynn McDonald introduces Bill C-204, the Non-smokers’ Health Act, in Parliament.
	Taiwan and Japan yield to US pressure and open their markets to American cigarettes.
1987	Smoking is banned on domestic flights of 2 hours or less.
	Northwest Territories bans smoking in all government workplaces. In subsequent years, many provincial governments would do likewise.
	Federal and provincial governments announce Tobacco Diversification Plan to help farmers exit from tobacco growing.
	House of Commons Agriculture Committee releases report recommending measures to assist tobacco growers.
	Health Minister Jake Epp introduces Bill C-51, the Tobacco Products Control Act, in Parliament.
1988	Parliament passes Tobacco Products Control Act banning tobacco advertising and Non-smokers’ Health Act restricting smoking in federally regulated workplaces and public places. (Both come into force in 1989.)
	Three major tobacco companies each file a constitutional challenge to the Tobacco Products Control Act. The trial would begin in 1989.
	Calgary Winter Olympics become first smoke-free Olympics.

	In New Jersey, a jury awards US $400 000 to Rose Cipollone, the first time a tobacco company loses a verdict in court. The award would be overturned on appeal.
	First Canadian lawsuit by a smoker against a manufacturer is filed against RJR – Macdonald.
	US Surgeon General concludes that the pharmacologic and behavioural processes that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine heroin and cocaine addiction.
	World Health Organization initiates World No-Tobacco Day, held annually on May 31.
	South Korea yields to US pressure and opens its market to American cigarettes.
	National Clearinghouse on Tobacco and Health is established.
1989	Four legislated health warnings appear in rotation on front and back of cigarette packages.
	Smoking ban in federal public service comes into effect.
	Smoking is banned on all domestic air flights.
	Smoking is prohibited on interprovincial bus travel.
	Ontario law restricts smoking in workplaces.
	Federal tobacco taxes are increased by $4.00 a carton.
1990s	Transnational tobacco companies begin to penetrate markets of Central and Eastern Europe.
1990	Manitoba law sets 18 as the minimum age and restricts smoking in public places.
	GATT decision dismisses American argument that Thailand’s ban on tobacco advertising violates GATT provisions.
	Seventh World Conference on Tobacco and Health endorses resolution commending Canadian government for “its leadership in improving the health of Canadians and for setting an outstanding example in comprehensive tobacco control policy.”
	A further resolution “recognises and congratulates the Cancer Societies in Canada, New Zealand and Australia for their leadership in stimulating and sustaining tobacco control initiatives in their respective countries and encourages all other non-government health organisations to learn from, and be encouraged to follow these examples.”
1991	Quebec Superior Court declares federal ban on tobacco advertising unconstitutional.
	Federal tobacco taxes are increased by $6.00 a carton.

1992	Federal government imposes export tax to curb cigarette smuggling, but this is repealed within 2 months.
	US Environmental Protection Agency classifies environmental tobacco smoke as a group A (known human) carcinogen and completes major report on the health effects of ETS.
	International Civil Aviation Organization adopts resolution urging nations “to take necessary measures as soon as possible to restrict smoking progressively on all international flights with the objective of implementing complete bans by 1 July 1996.”
	Nicotine patch appears in the Canadian market on a prescription basis.
	Nicotine gum of a dosage of 2 mg or less is allowed to be sold over the counter without a prescription.
1993	Lung cancer surpasses breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths among Canadian women.
	Parliament passes Tobacco Sales to Young Persons Act setting 18 as the minimum age and prohibiting cigarette-vending machines except in bars. (Act comes into force in 1994, at which point the repeal of the Tobacco Restraint Act comes into effect.)
	Quebec Court of Appeal reverses lower court and upholds constitutionality of tobacco-advertising ban.
	National Conference on Tobacco or Health takes place in Ottawa, with more than 400 in attendance.
	Smuggling into Canada, which had been rising for several years, reaches its peak year at about 25–31% of the market. Exports to United States also peak in this year.
	Navy introduces comprehensive antismoking initiative.
	Ontario Tobacco Research Unit is established.
1994	Federal government and five provincial governments set major reductions in tobacco taxes to curb smuggling.
	Federal Government announces it will spend $185 million over 3 years in an antismoking program funded by increased corporate taxes on tobacco companies.
	House of Commons Health Committee recommends adoption of plain packaging provided that results of a Health Canada study provide further evidence that plain packaging will be effective at reducing smoking.
	Parliament bans kiddie packs, which contain fewer than 20 cigarettes.
	Eight revised health warnings appear in rotation in black and white at the top of the front and back of the packages.

	New Brunswick requires retailers to post detailed health warnings at point of sale.
	British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco to persons under 19 come into force. Ontario and Nova Scotia ban cigarette-vending machines outright.
	Ontario bans sale of tobacco in pharmacies and restricts smoking in certain public places.
	Newfoundland law restricts smoking in workplaces and public places.
	British Columbia repeals provincial advertising restrictions.
	Smoking is banned on all international flights of Canadian air carriers.
	McDonald’s announces that all of its company-owned restaurants in North America will be smoke free.
	Imperial Tobacco announces that it is exploring entry into Asia, especially China.
	Several US states file lawsuits against tobacco manufacturers to recover Medicare costs attributable to smoking. (Other states filed their own lawsuits in subsequent years.)
	Large set of internal documents from US tobacco company Brown and Williamson become public.
1995	Supreme Court of Canada, in a 5 to 4 decision, declares advertising restrictions and unattributed health warnings under the Tobacco Products Control Act unconstitutional infringements of freedom of expression.
	Health Minister Diane Marleau releases a blueprint recommending a comprehensive tobacco-control policy, including a new legislative framework and a renewed complete ban on tobacco advertising. A week later, the tobacco industry adopts a new voluntary advertising code.
	Four Ontario smokers file a proposed class-action lawsuit against the three large Canadian manufacturers.
	Federal and Quebec governments impose small increases in tobacco taxes.
	Federal government cuts funding for 3-year $185 million antitobacco program by more than 40%.
	US Food and Drug Administration proposes to regulate cigarettes and smokeless tobacco as drug-delivery devices. Strong restrictions on advertising are proposed.
	Imasco sells United Cigar Stores to Hachette Distribution Services of France.

1996	Tobacco companies resume advertising.
	Tobacco industry weakens voluntary code to permit advertising inside stores near schools after a ruling finds that such advertising is a violation of the code.
	City of Vaughan, Ontario, becomes first municipality with a bylaw banning smoking in restaurants. Vancouver bans smoking in restaurants. Toronto bans smoking in restaurants and bars (effective 1 January 1997), although the bylaw was being reconsidered. Other municipalities adopt bylaws restricting smoking in restaurants and/or bars.
	Liggett Group Inc., the smallest of the five major American tobacco companies, agrees to settle Castano class-action lawsuit and some lawsuits filed by state governments.
	A Florida jury awards US $750 000 to Grady Carter and his wife Millie Carter in a product liability case against Brown and Williamson. The industry appeals.
	US President Bill Clinton announces final regulations of the Food and Drug Administration. The regulations require a minimum national age of 18, restrict vending machines to adult only premises, prohibit sponsorship promotions, prohibit the use of trademarks on nontobacco goods, and restrict advertising.
	By late August, 14 US states had filed lawsuits against tobacco companies to recover health costs attributable to smoking. More states were expected to file suit.

Document(s) 33 of 37