It was not without some sense of historical irony that Liberal Member of Parliament in Canada, The Honourable John McKay, observed, while speaking in favor of a proposed legislative amendment, that in February 1916 much of Parliament burned to the ground. Although no official cause was ever provided, it was widely believed that a cigarette caused this fire.¹

Andrew McGuire performs a great service in this issue of capturing the process that has led, after 30 years of struggle, to the introduction of safer cigarettes [see page 264]. The tactics he and his colleagues used are masterly and conjure up an image of a David and Goliath-like struggle to change the tobacco industry’s practises. In addition to admiring and acknowledging the skills displayed by McGuire, I confess to being one of his “thousands of advocates” who have also engaged the tobacco industry on this subject. For a decade, spanning the mid 1980s to mid 1990s, in conjunction with local champions in the fire suppression services, I worked on a number of fronts. Most memorable was the one involving the Product Safety …