Changing perceptions of e-cigarettes versus cigarettes

The percentage of adults who think that e-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes has fallen since 2012, according to a new study that looked at responses from more than 35,000 adults included in two different surveys between 2012 and 2017:

• The Tobacco Products and Risk Perceptions Survey: 39 percent of people who responded to this survey in 2012 thought that e-cigarettes were less harmful than cigarettes, but that number dropped to 34 percent five years later. Nearly three times as many adults in 2017 thought that e-cigarettes were as harmful as traditional cigarettes as those surveyed in 2012.  
• Health Information National Trends Survey: Nearly 51 percent of adults surveyed in 2012 thought e-cigarettes were less harmful than their combustible counterparts, compared to roughly 35 percent in 2017. At the same time, three times as many people thought e-cigarettes were more harmful than traditional cigarettes in 2017 compared to five years prior, and nearly seven times as many current smokers in 2017 thought e-cigarettes were more harmful than cigarettes as did in 2012.
• Overall takeaway: Given these mixed results, “Our findings underscore the urgency to convey accurate risk information about e-cigarettes to the public,” the authors write.