Smoking risks in Spain: Part I - Perception of risks to the smoker

Survey evidence for the Spanish population indicates that perceptions of lu ng cancer risk and life expectancy loss due to smoking are similar to estim ates found in the United States. This paper also presents new evidence on t he relative lung cancer risk for smokers, the perceived risk of lung diseas e for smokers, the heart disease risk for smokers, and the relative heart d isease risk for smokers, all of which indicate substantial risk perceptions . Risk beliefs are particularly high for younger respondents, but are lower for better educated respondents.