Home Invites Members Groups Events Videos News Photos Blogs Forums Chat
Home > News > Post Content

African American Leaders Call on Tobacco Industry to Stop Targeting Their Community (1923 hits)


oday African American leaders in California called on the tobacco industry to stop targeting their community with the promotion of menthol cigarettes and deceptive advertising. Menthol cigarettes are not more toxic than regular cigarettes, but the minty flavor and cooling sensation makes them more enticing and easier to smoke, paving the road to nicotine addiction. Seventy percent of African American smokers prefer to smoke menthol cigarettes, compared to thirty percent of White smokers.

"We're here today to say enough is enough," said Sharon Eubanks, the former government prosecutor who led the landmark 2005 lawsuit against tobacco companies. "The tobacco industry has been targeting the African American community for decades with deceptive ads and pushing menthol cigarettes that have an anesthetic quality. These cigarettes are harder to quit and make it easier for youth to take up smoking."

Convening in Leimert Park, a historic gathering place for Los Angeles' African American community, tobacco control activists showcased a selection of historical ads created by the tobacco industry to entice African Americans to smoke and highlighted data about the disastrous health effects in the Black community that are attributable to tobacco use.
Leading the effort were Eubanks as well as Rev. Anthony Evans, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Black Church Initiative.

The call to stop the tobacco industry's targeting of African Americans comes at a time when the United States Congress is considering legislation to give the FDA authority to regulate cigarettes. This legislation would prohibit tobacco companies from adding flavorings like cherry and peach to cigarettes, but contains a specific exemption for menthol.

"The U.S. Congress wants to ban adding candy and fruit flavors to cigarettes because it makes them more attractive to kids," said Eubanks. "It is unacceptable that menthol is not included."

According to the most recent California Tobacco Survey in 2005, African Americans in California have the highest overall smoking rate of any other group at 19.3 percent, compared to that of the general population at 13.9 percent. African American men and women both smoke at higher rates than other groups at 21.3 percent and 17.4 percent respectively, yet they attempt to quit more often and successfully quit at lower rates than any other group.

Advertising and promotion of tobacco products is prevalent in African American communities in California. Throughout the years, African Americans have been exposed to hundreds of tobacco ads, most of which are for menthol cigarettes. Historically, the tobacco industry places proportionately more menthol cigarette ads in African American magazines than general population magazines.

"Smoking is not glamorous or s*xy as these ads, so prevalent in our community, make it appear," said Rev. Evans. "It's lethal. And this targeting by the tobacco industry must stop."

Tobacco use is the key contributor in the three major causes of death among African Americans: heart disease, cancer and stroke. Lung cancer rates are especially high in the African American community, with African American men 24 percent more likely than White men to have the disease.

Tobacco control activists and community members are in town to attend the tobacco control conference, "A Community Under Siege: The State of Black California and Tobacco Use." The conference will be held at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton on Friday, September 26. Participants of the all-day conference, sponsored by the California Department of Public Health, will discuss and develop recommendations to deal with the immense toll tobacco use is having on California's African American population.

The URSA Institute is a non-profit, full service, social interest consulting firm providing training and technical assistance, community-based program planning, implementation, and evaluation, and social marketing services. URSA works to emphasize community-level interventions, community driven research and evaluation and culturally competent training and technical assistance.

SOURCE: URSA Institute
Posted By: Dante Lee
Friday, September 26th 2008 at 2:12AM
You can also click here to view all posts by this author...

Report obscenity | post comment
Share |
Please Login To Post Comments...
Email:
Password:

 
More From This Author
Danny Glover, Billy Blanks, and Others to Speak At African American Health Summit 2009
Finally, A Summit About Minority Health Disparities
Black Cancer Doctor Reflects on Living and Dying In New Book
New Campaign to Increase Diversity in Medicine
Black Teen Commits Suicide in Front of Webcam
Black Senior Citizens perceive health status differently
Black Health Organization Congratulates President-Elect Barack Obama
Black Children Lead Nation in Obesity
Forward This Article Entry!
News Home

(Advertise Here)
Who's Online
>> more | invite 
Black Health Statistics
+ African Americans are 70% more likely to get Diabetes than whites.

+ More African Americans are obese than any other ethnic group in the U.S.

+ Infant mortality rates are twice as high for African Americans than for whites.

+ African Americans are more likely to die from Heart Disease than any other ethnic group.

Latest Member Activity
reginald culpepper just posted a article entitled 'black americans at higher risk for kidney failure'. 02:51PM
nia mensah just became a new member. 10:22AM
beverly oliver just posted a blog entitled 'mansa books service to correctional institutions'. 07:14PM
beverly oliver just posted a blog entitled 'howard university, dr. sebi and me'. 04:34PM
beverly oliver just posted a video entitled 'dembali, a labor of love'. 03:25PM
beverly oliver just posted a blog entitled 'what more can you know about dr. sebi, that modern-day george washington carver?'. 12:43PM
beverly oliver just posted a blog entitled 'new book dr. sebi speaks of dembali now available'. 11:43AM
hadassah patterson just edited her profile. 02:48PM
hadassah patterson just became a new member. 02:30PM
patrisha draughn just edited her profile. 12:36PM
patrisha draughn just became a new member. 12:34PM
beverly oliver just posted a blog entitled 'world health organization has 5 steps to stay safe during covid 19 pandemic. what's dr. sebi's suggestion?'. 05:56PM
>> more | invite friends