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Smokers still believe many tobacco industry deception
June 5, 2014
A study led by Arnold School researchers, including Dr. Jim Thrasher, finds that a large number of smokers are unaware
of the dangers from tobacco.
A study, led by researchers at the Arnold School of Public Health, finds that many smokers still do not fully understand the dangers of smoking.
Published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the study has received widespread national and international attention.
Dr. Christy L. Kollath-Cattano, a postdoctoral research associate in the Arnold School's Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, led the study. Dr. Jim Thrasher and Dr. James Hardin, both of the Arnold School, were study authors.
The study found that accurate and detailed information about smoking is novel or unknown to many smokers. The researchers examined the "corrective statements (CS)" that U.S. Federal Courts ordered in 2006. The ruling required the tobacco industry to make clear past deceptions, including health effects of smoking for smokers; health effects of secondhand smoke for nonsmokers; cigarette and nicotine addictiveness; industry design of cigarettes to increase addiction; and the lack of relative safety of low-tar and light cigarettes.
Thrasher said, "The tobacco industry systematically deceived the public for decades, denying that smoking was dangerous or addictive."
However, the implementation of the court's ruling has been delayed while the industry has fought back in the courts. During this delay, tobacco marketing continues to make tobacco use seem like a "normal, important part of everyday behavior," the authors wrote.
Thrasher said the study found that many smokers indicate that receiving factual, corrective information about the dangers of smoking motivates them to quit.
The study also found that members of groups that have been targeted by the tobacco industry were especially responsive to the corrective statements. These include women, African Americans, Latinos and lower-income people.
"This study suggests that the longer we wait to give smokers this information about the tobacco industry's lies, the more smokers will continue to consume tobacco," he said.
The study comprised 1,404 smokers ranging in age from18 to 64 years old and of diverse ethnic, gender and income groups. Participants were presented with the corrective statements. Between one-half and one-third of the study participants stated that some information in the corrective statements was novel to them. Those who experienced novelty were likelier to express anger at the industry, to find the message(s) relevant and to feel motivated to quit by the message(s). Novelty ratings ran consistently higher among African Americans and Latinos than among non-Hispanic whites.
Among the media outlets highlighting the study:
Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/27/smokers-tobacco-truths_n_5397319.html
Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140515153815.htm
Live Science, http://www.livescience.com/45837-tobacco-true-statements-surprise-smokers.html
Times of India, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/Tobacco-dangers-still-surprise-many-smokers/articleshow/35338055.cms
The Center for Advancing Health, http://www.cfah.org/hbns/2014/many-smokers-still-surprised-by-facts-about-tobaccos-dangers
Medical Daily, http://www.medicaldaily.com/many-smokers-still-dark-about-tobacco-company-lies-smokings-harmful-effects-283260
