African American Smokers at Higher Risk Than Whites

Smoking among African Americans is a serious problem as this population suffers disproportionately from deadly and preventable diseases associated with smoking.  Compared to white Americans, African Americans are at increased risk for lung cancer even though they smoke about the same amount.

African American communities are bombarded with cigarette advertising. Money spent on magazine advertising of mentholated cigarettes, popular with African Americans, increased from 13 percent of total ad expenditures in 1998 to 49 percent in 2005. The former Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company (now part of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company) ran a campaign for Kool cigarettes aimed at black youths in 2006 that featured hip-hop DJ competitions, themed cigarette packs, and was billed as a “celebration” of hip-hop music and culture.

Find out more at Lung.org.

This could change if the FDA bans menthol cigarettes.