year, including 400 from lung cancer. Second-hand smoke has been granted status as a known human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
    When the U.S. Surgeon General first advised about the dangers of smoking in 1964, about 50 percent of Canadians smoked. The percentage is now down to 28 percent, thanks largely to warnings, smoking cessation programs, restrictive indoor air policies, education, social pressures and the availability of the transdermal nicotine patch. These have helped turn the tide against the clout of the tobacco industry.
    Because it is a matter of choice and takes so many lives, smoking is the most preventable cause 
of death in Canada. Smoking is an addiction, perhaps the most deadly form of drug dependence, and is a difficult habit to break.