Facts About
Smoking
Among
African Americans
Interested in smoking information specific to African Americans? Read on for more!
- African Americans tend to smoke fewer cigarettes per day and begin smoking later in life than whites, but they are more likely to die from smoking than whites. (SGR, 1998)
- Each year, approximately 47,000 African Americans die from smoking-related disease. Tobacco-related diseases are responsible for more deaths among African Americans than car wrecks, AIDS, murder, drugs and alcohol use combined. (US DHHS “Pathways to Freedom,” 2007)
- Nationally, 21.5 percent of African American adults are current smokers, which is slightly higher than the overall national rate of 20.9 percent (CDC MMWR, 2006). In North Carolina, African Americans smoke at a rate of 22.9 percent, compared with 22.1 percent for the entire population (NC BRFSS 2006).
- 42 percent of low-income African Americans smoke. Half of those who did not graduate from high school smoke, compared with 33.5 percent who are high school graduates and 36 percent of those who had some college education. (American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2005)
- African Americans are more likely to develop, and die from, cancer than persons of any other racial or ethnic group. Lung cancer is the second-most common cancer in both African American men and women, and it kills more African Americans than any other type of cancer. (ACS, 2007)
- The higher rates of smoke-tobacco-caused disease among African Americans than whites may result in part, from African American smokers being much more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes than whites. More than 75 percent of African American smokers choose menthol cigarettes, compared to 23 percent of white smokers. (SGR, 1998)
- Menthol brands are also preferred by African American teens, 80 percent of whom choose Newport. In contrast, the predominant brand among white teens is non-menthol Marlboro. (SAMHSA, 2005)
- Menthol cigarettes may increase the risk of lung and bronchial cancer more than regular cigarettes. (SGR, 1998)
- Menthol cigarettes may create more poisonous and more addictive smoke. (Chest, 1996)
- Current use of cigarettes among African American high school students is 11 percent, according to the 2007 N.C. Youth Tobacco Survey (N.C. YTS). African American middle and high school students have the lowest rates of smoking in the state.
- Read more about African American teen tobacco use in North Carolina at 2007 N.C. Youth Tobacco Survey: African American Youth (link opens in new window).