A new survey has found nearly one-third of smokers believe the health effects of smoking are exaggerated.
And fewer than four out of 10 smokers are able to identify emphysema as a health effect of smoking.
The Cancer Council, Victoria survey of 861 smokers found:
*32 per cent of smokers believe the health effects of smoking have been exaggerated;
*37.5 per cent of smokers name emphysema or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) as being a health effect of smoking.
Quit Executive Director Fiona Sharkie said on Sunday smokers are kidding themselves if they think they can get away with smoking because the health effects have been exaggerated.
"Almost all smokers will get emphysema, while a quarter of all deaths from smoking are from emphysema," she said.
"If smoking doesn't kill you, it will likely affect you in some other way - often in ways that can change you and your family's lives forever."
