Less Americans believe that smoking a pack a day is a serious health risk. Perceptions of risk declined between 2006 and 2015 and are faster among women: Source: February 27, 2018: Summary: Nearly 3 out of 4 Americans agree that smoking cigarettes causes health problems, but a new study suggests that public perceptions of the risk of smoking may be reduced. “Fewer Americans believe that smoking one pack per day poses a serious health risk: perception of risk declined between 2006 and 2015, and among women, it declined more rapidly. ScienceDaily. Fewer Americans believe that smoking a pack per day is a serious health risk: risk perception declined between 2006 and 2015, and among women it is declining more rapidly. About 3 out of 4 Americans agree that cigarette smoking causes health problems, but public perception of the risk of smoking may decline, according to a study by Duke Health published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependent. Between 2006 and 2015, the number of Americans who reported significant health risks from smoking one or more packages per day fell by 1% to more than 3 million. “We would like public policy experts and public health advocates to review these results, take a step back and work on ways to raise public awareness of the risks of smoking,” McCleanon said. Duke researchers have conducted several projects to examine how different tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes, affect perceptions of the risks of smoking or the decision to quit. Adolescents and older people sooner than 12 to 17 years old realized that smoking is a significant health risk. “That represents 3 million people who are more likely to start, start again or stop smoking,” said Lauren Peichek, a graduate student, principal author of the study and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Duke University. Although the number of respondents who consider smoking a significant risk has increased from 1.45 percent to 2.63 percent in the last decade. Perceptions of cigarette smoking risk have declined between 2006 and 2015: the results of a nationally representative sample of Lauren R. 5, 2016 U.S. physicians and public health officials differ on the potential long-term consequences of inhaling and using e-cigarettes to help quit smoking. 27, 2018 While the number of cigarettes smokers is declining, marijuana consumption is increasing, and marijuana consumers are also smoking disproportionately large quantities of cigarettes. The results are based on responses from more than 559,000 people over 12 years of age who participated in the National Drug Abuse and Health Survey, a household survey conducted by the Agency for Drug Addiction and Mental Health since the 1970s. The authors found that changes in risk perception were also more pronounced among women than men.