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Smoking's myths linger

By David Wroe
June 12, 2004

Smokers entertain myths about their habit and remain surprisingly ignorant about many of the health dangers, government research shows.

It revealed that many smokers still believe cigarettes labelled "light" or "mild" are less damaging than heavier brands.

The Government plans to ban the use of these labels.

The research, which the Government used to introduce tougher health warnings, also found that smokers had little understanding of the dangerous chemicals in cigarettes and tar.

The tobacco industry opposed the warnings, claiming that smokers were already well informed about the dangers.

The research also found that most smokers falsely believed that because tobacco was natural, it was less harmful than the chemicals in cigarettes, which were "unnatural".

And the vast majority did not know that the damaging effects were compounded by how cigarettes were smoked - deeper puffs and covering the holes in the filter with fingers made things worse.