Many Americans Still Downplay Risk of Passive Smoking

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- "[Second-hand smoke] is a serious health hazard that can lead to disease and premature death in children and nonsmoking adults." U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona made this comment in late June, upon the release of a comprehensive scientific report on the dangers of second-hand smoke. The report states that exposure to second-hand smoke increases a nonsmoker's chances of getting lung cancer by 20% to 30%.

It appears that Carmona's missive had little immediate impact on public attitudes about the risks of what some call "involuntary smoking" or "passive smoking." Gallup's annual Consumption Habits survey, conducted July 6-9, finds attitudes on the subject statistically unchanged from a year ago. Fifty-six percent of Americans, compared with 53% in July 2005, consider second-hand smoke to be "very harmful" to adults. Another 29% consider it "somewhat harmful," while 8% say it is "not too harmful" and 4% say "not at all harmful."

The U.S. surgeon general's office last issued a report on the dangers of second-hand smoke in 1986. In 1988, smoking was banned on domestic flights of less than two hours, and over the next decade, a slew of state and local ordinances against smoking in public places came into being, as well as ultimately federal restrictions against all smoking on airlines. The dangers of passive smoking made national news in the mid-1990s after flight attendants sued tobacco companies for health problems they say resulted from second-hand smoke on airplanes.

All of this may have contributed to the fairly rapid acceleration in public concern about the health risks of second-hand smoke recorded from 1994 to 1997. The percentage saying it is very harmful rose from 36% to 55% over this period. However, since then, the percentage saying it is very harmful has been fairly stable, fluctuating between 51% and 56%.

Since 1994, there has never been a large proportion of Americans perceiving second-hand smoke as a trivial problem -- at most, 18% said it was not too harmful or not harmful at all. Most of those not perceiving second-hand smoke as very harmful say it is somewhat harmful.

Most Smokers Deny Serious Risks

Smokers typically show less concern than nonsmokers do about the health dangers of smoking, and that pattern holds true for second-hand smoke. Barely a third of smokers, compared with nearly two-thirds of nonsmokers, say second-hand smoke is very harmful. This 28-point gap is similar to the 26-point gap over the harmfulness of smoking (65% "very harmful" among smokers vs. 91% among nonsmokers) seen in the current poll -- although among smokers and nonsmokers, the overall perception of direct harm from smoking is much higher than the perception of harm from second-hand smoke.

There is also a sharp gender difference in Americans' perceptions of the dangers of second-hand smoke -- a pattern Gallup has consistently found since initiating this measure in 1994. Less than half of men (46%), compared with nearly two-thirds of women (65%), consider it very harmful. In 1994, when only 36% of Americans overall perceived it as very serious, Gallup found 27% of men and 45% of women taking this position.

Nonsmoking Women Are Highly Concerned

The primary difference between men and women in these attitudes is seen among nonsmokers. While men and women who smoke are about equally likely to say smoking is very harmful -- with fewer than 4 in 10 believing this -- most nonsmoking women take the problem highly seriously, compared with only half of nonsmoking men.

Smoking Taken Much More Seriously Than Second-Hand Smoke

As noted, while topping 50%, the perceived seriousness of second-hand smoke today is low by comparison with the perceived danger of smoking. More than four in five Americans -- 84% -- say smoking is very harmful to adults who smoke.

The perceived risks of smoking are unchanged since 2002, but historically Gallup has documented a long-term gradual increase in the percentage who believe smoking causes lung cancer. Prior to the 1964 surgeon general's report linking smoking with serious illnesses such as cancer and heart disease, Americans were split on the question of tobacco's safety. A 1957 Gallup Poll found that only 50% of Americans believed smoking was a cause of lung cancer and only 38% believed it could result in heart disease. By 1969, these figures had risen to 70% and 60%, respectively, and when last measured in 1999, 92% of Americans linked cigarette smoking with cancer and 80% with heart disease.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,007 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted July 6-9, 2006. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points.

For results based on the sample of 195 smokers, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±8 percentage points. For results based on the sample of 812 nonsmokers, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

17. In general, how harmful do you feel second-hand smoke is to adults -- very harmful, somewhat harmful, not too harmful, or not at all harmful?

18. In general, how harmful do you feel smoking is to adults who smoke -- very harmful, somewhat harmful, not too harmful, or not at all harmful?