The Michigan Doily-Friday,.May 22 1981-Page-13

Cancer warning 'worn out'

WASHINGTON (UPI) - Despite nearly two
decades of bad publicity, 50 million Americans still
don't know cigarette smoking can cause heart
disease and two in 10 still don't know it can cause
cancer, a government study said yesterday.
The Federal Trade Commission staff report said
much of the blame rests with warning labels on
cigarette packages and advertising, both of which
have become so "worn out" fewer than three percent
of all adults exposed to them bother to read them.
THE REPORT, given to Congress and released for
six months of public comment, makes no specific
recommendations. But it suggests one option might
be to require a rotating series of warnings in adver-
tising that might say "Heart Attack: A Major Risk
Factor Is Smoking" or "Lung Cancer: The Major
Cause is Smoking."
The current warning label, required by Congress in
1965 and in advertising since 1972 by FTC order, says

"Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined
That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous To Your
Health."
The report cites several surveys or studies, but
most of the projections come from two commissioned
by the FTC - a 1980 Roper study involving 2,000 in-
terviews and a 1978 Gallup poll of 1,500 people.
The commission has released a smoking report
almost every year, and most have called for changes
in warning labels. The difference this year, officials
said, is that surveys for the first time reveal a gap in
consumer understanding.
WHILE MOST Americans are aware there is a
health risk in smoking, many don't know exactly
what the risk is or how it might affect them, James
Sneed, head of the agency's Bureau of Consumer
Protection, told a briefing.
Sneed said while only Congress can change the
cigarette label language, the FTC feels it has the
power to require different warnings in advertising if
it determines existing ads are false or deceptive.

According to the study:
-30 PERCENT of the public, or 50 million people,
are "unaware of the relationship between smoking
and heart disease."
-Nearly half of all women ''do not know that
smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of
stillbirth and miscarriage."
-Over 40 percent of people polled did not know
smoking causes 80 percent of all lung cancer.
-ABOUT 20 percent did not know smoking causes
cancer.
-About 60 percent do "not know that most cases of
emphysema are smoking-related."
-"Over 50 percent of the population does not know
that smoking causes many, as opposed to just a few,
cases of heart attack."
-30 percent of the population and 41 percent of all
smokers "did not know that a typical 30-year-old
male shortened his life expectancy at all by
smoking."


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