Up in smoke.

• Position: Tobacco - Cartoonists arrange exhibition on smoking and its effects on health

"Cartoonists Take Up Smoking," retraces the 40-year battle over the use and promotion of cigarettes since the publication of the landmark Surgeon General's report on smoking and health in 1964. The exhibition addresses complacency on the part of organized medicine, politicians, and the mass media in ending the tobacco pandemic.

"Smoking" features 55 original editorial illustrations by more than 50 nationally known newspaper cartoonists and is supplemented by various related items, from the original newspaper headlines that inspired the cartoons to advertisements promoting the health benefits of lighting up. Also on display are several artifacts, as well as two preserved lungs--one showing the ill effects of smoking and the other a healthy lung.

In their artist's statement, several of the cartoonists relate how family members have suffered from smoking-induced illnesses. For instance, David Fitzsimmons of The Arizona Star comments, "My mother and father died within a month of each other because of their inability to overcome their addiction to cigarettes. I understand firsthand the impact of tobacco on the lives of people."

For half a century, the cartoonist most unapologetically opposed to smoking and the tobacco industry was Herb Block of The Washington Post, whose work appears in the show. However, not all cartoonists have depicted tobacco as an evil weed. Indeed, several could be described as anti-anti-smoking, in part based on their belief in the freedom to choose. Clay Bennett of the Christian Science Monitor wonders if there should be laws against nagging and finger-wagging at smokers. Sean Delonas of...