by Elizabeth M. Whelan

About the author: Elizabeth M. Whelan is the president of the American Council on Science and Health, an association of scientists and doctors concerned with public health.

In 1993, the Environmental Protection Agency released its long awaited report assessing the health risks of other people’s cigarette smoke— “Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS).” Their conclusion: ETS causes 3,000 cases of lung cancer annually in nonsmokers; it is responsible for hundreds of thousands of cases of bronchitis and pneumonia in children; and it induces or worsens asthma in up to one million young Americans. The public health community welcomed the official findings—noting they were consistent with other scientific reviews.

The tobacco industry—which has, for over 40 years, been blowing smoke by officially dismissing the causal link between active...