Believing that smoking a cigarette a day for 10 years is less harmful than a pack for a year is a belief of many smokers that causes them to greatly underestimate the danger of their consumption.
Smokers largely underestimate the danger thresholds
If smoking is the main cause of cancer in the world, its consequences on health are too often underestimated due to widespread beliefs. According to a survey by Public Health France (1), while almost all of those questioned know that smoking promotes cancer, only 23% think that there is a risk from a daily cigarette. Thus “light smokers” of less than 10 cigarettes a day too often think, wrongly, that their consumption is too low to risk cancer due to tobacco.
However, according to the National Cancer Institute, smoking a cigarette a day for 10 years is more risky than smoking a pack a day for a year.
Why do we minimize the risks?
While most smokers recognize themselves as being in a form of addiction, the addictive mechanisms at play in the brain push them to minimize the risk through various beliefs in order to continue their consumption. We know, however, that the more tobacco is perceived as harmful to health, the more attempts to quit are crowned with success.
This is how smokers reassure themselves by talking regarding their “moment of pleasure” or the other risks they take (pollution, pesticides, etc.), thinking they are minimizing that of tobacco. Public health campaigns and the fight once morest false information conveyed by the tobacco industry have their place here to inform and help smokers become aware of the real risk, especially among the most modest.
Source :
1. Public Health France: “Evolution of the perception of the risks of smoking in France: Cancer barometer 2015”, Published on January 25, 2019, available at: https://www.santepubliquefrance.fr/les-actualites/2019/evolution-de-la-perception-des-risques-du-tabagisme-en-france-barometre-cancer-201
2. National Institute of Cancer: https://preventiontabac.e-cancer.fr/
