More Americans Fear Risk Of Second-Hand Smoke

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Flight attendants suing tobacco companies for health problems they say resulted from second-hand smoke on airplanes may have a good chance of finding a sympathetic jury if their case actually goes to trial. According to a new Gallup poll, a majority of Americans now believe that second-hand smoke is very harmful to adults. Just three years ago barely one-third held that view.

The Gallup Poll first asked Americans about the effects of second-hand smoke in 1994. At that time only 36% felt it was very harmful to adults while another 42% said it was somewhat harmful. Even then, however, only 18% felt second-hand smoke was not too harmful or not harmful at all.

Since then, there has been a rapid and substantial increase in public concern about the dangers inherent in exposure to other people's smoking, with the percent rating it very harmful rising from 36% in 1994 to 48% in 1996 and 55% in 1997.

Smokers Downplay the Risk
Over the past three years Gallup has recorded a substantial increase in the perception that second-hand smoke is dangerous, across all major groups in society; however, differences still persist between the views of men and women on this issue, as well as between smokers and non-smokers.

Today, only 49% of men but 61% of women think second-hand smoke is very harmful to adults. In 1994 only 27% of men and 45% of women felt this way. The most dramatic difference of opinion in society is between smokers and non-smokers: Today 64% of non-smokers, but only 30% of smokers, consider it very harmful. In 1994 the figures were 45% for non-smokers and 14% for smokers.

There are no major differences on this issue across age, education or political groups, with 50-60% of people of various ages, education levels and political preferences saying it is very harmful.

Evolution of Opinion on Smoking
This rapid change in attitudes toward second-hand smoke is reminiscent of the major change in opinion about smoking that took place in the 1960s. Prior to the 1964 Surgeon General 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 71% and 68% respectively. The current Gallup survey suggests that Americans are on their way to a similar consensus over the dangers of second-hand smoke.

In spite of Americans' recognition of the hazards of smoking, recent Gallup polling has found that the public -- by a 64% to 25% margin -- generally holds smokers, rather than the tobacco industry, responsible for smoking-related health problems. Indeed, lawyers for flight attendants in the Miami-based suit would have to convince a jury that tobacco companies are liable for their clients' exposure to second-hand smoke. However, the Gallup survey suggests that a jury of ordinary Americans would at least accept the premise that second-hand smoke is dangerous.

One in Four Americans Smoke
The percentage of Americans who say they have smoked a cigarette within the past week is currently 26%. This represents a significant decline from the 1940s through the middle of the 1970s when Gallup found more than 40% of Americans saying they smoked. Cigarette smoking fell to about one-third of adults in the 1980s and has been steady at about 27% during the 1990s.

METHODOLOGY
The results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,013 adults, 18 years and older, conducted June 26-29, 1997. For results based on samples of this size, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects could be plus or minus 3 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.

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

Have you, yourself, smoked any cigarettes in the past week?