Smoking rates are dropping more quickly for black people than white people, leading researchers to suspect that a decades-long racial gap in cigarette use has been erased.
And for the first time, the percentage of black men and white men who light up is essentially the same. That is considered a victory, since men have accounted for the nearly all of the difference in smoking rates between the races.
Experts attribute the shift -- documented in a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- to several factors: anti-smoking programs targeting African-Americans; a negative view of cigarettes among black teenagers; rising income levels among blacks; and a backlash against tobacco advertising directed at minorities.
"The African-American community has been very active about tobacco prevention and control," said Dr. Corinne Husten of the CDC's Office of Smoking and Health. "African-American kids are getting a much stronger message from their family and extended family about not smoking."
| Continue David Wahlberg's Atlanta Journal-Constitution article "Smoking down among blacks," or read the Centers for Disease Control's report "Cigarette Smoking Among Adults --- United States, 2001"
posted in articles on October 9, 2003 7:54 PM | t (0)
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