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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Mike Stobbe

The rise and fall of America's deadly love affair with the cigarette

America 250 Objects Cigarettes - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Cancer stick. Coffin nail. Cowboy killer. Those are nicknames, through the decades, for the cigarette — the once-glamorous desideratum of American society that has been tied to tens of millions of U.S. deaths.

The cigarette is not an invention of the United States. And while Marlboro is a top-selling international brand, more than 100 countries make cigarettes. The largest manufacturer is in China.

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