At first, we thought it was just hokey: Gov. John Baldacci and nine past and present legislators who have sponsored anti-tobacco legislation unveiling a highway sign promoting Maine’s smoke-free status.

The sign at the Yarmouth Visitor’s Center is one of five that will be placed around the state advertising our smoke-free status.

It didn’t take us long to get over our initial reaction, particularly after we read accounts of the new Surgeon General’s report. Secondhand smoke kills, the report says, and it can only be controlled by banning smoking in public places, something Maine has already done.

We were also reminded by the report that so many other U.S. states and foreign countries are way behind Maine in this regard.

It’s always a bit of shock to travel to other states and find patrons of bars and restaurants smoking cigarettes. It’s even more of a shock to travel abroad and still find smoking as widespread and uncontrolled as it was in the U.S. 40 years ago.

“Second-hand smoke is a leading cause of preventable death among adults in the U.S.,” said Ron Davis, president-elect of the American Medical Association, “and kills at least 53,000 people each year.”

Of course, tobacco companies continue to deny the obvious: “Considering all of the evidence…it seems unlikely that second-hand smoke presents any significant harm to otherwise healthy non-smoking adults at the very low concentrations commonly encountered in homes, offices and other places where smoking is allowed,” said R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.

Perhaps the Reynolds Company should refer to the section of the Surgeon General’s report which establishes a clear statistical link between Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and cigarette smoking.

The first landmark Surgeon General’s report linking smoking to illness and death came out in 1964. Since then, millions of lives have been saved by efforts to curtail smoking in American society.

The latest report is a reminder of how much progress has been made and of how much more work remains to be done.