A U.S. recent study showed that 28 per cent of smokers argued that second-hand smoke is very harmful to adults, in comparison with 63 per cent of non-smokers. Gallup’s annual Consumption Habits poll, conducted July 9-12, observed that 46 per cent of smokers declared that secondhand smoke was a bit harmful, while approximately 1-in-4 said that secondhand smoke was not too or not at all harmful. Researches suggested that passive smoking increases the risk of developing many of the same fatal diseases as smoking tobacco, and 27 states have passed comprehensive smoke-free ordinances.
Eighty per cent of U.S. adults agreed that smoking was very bad to smokers but smokers were in conformity less likely than non-smokers to view smoking cigarettes as bad since Gallup began asking this question.
U.S. adults were meaningly more likely to say that smoking tobacco was harmful than they were to say the same for exposure to second-hand smoke. This gap remained stable over the past decade, in spite of a growing number of studies demonstrating the bad effects of secondhand smoke, Gallup explained.