A combination of recent scientific advances and social, legal, and public policy developments provides an unprecedented opportunity to reduce the burden of death and disease caused by tobacco use. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has long played a vital and leading role in the battle against tobacco use. Our research programs have provided critical insights into why people smoke and why they find quitting so difficult. Nevertheless, the historic decline in tobacco use is in jeopardy. Cigar use has increased dramatically.1 Smoking in a number of subpopulations, including college students, is more common now than a decade ago.1

The NCI recently …