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THE NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN TOBACCO PREVENTION NETWORK

Each year, 47,000 Blacks die from tobacco-related illnesses.

  1. Half of all deaths in African Americans are from diseases caused by smoking.
  2. African Americans are more likely to suffer from chronic and preventable diseases associated with smoking.
  3. In general, African Americans smoke fewer cigarettes per day, and tend to begin smoking later in life than whites—but their smoking related disease mortality is still higher.
  4. More African Americans die from lung cancer than any other race in the United States.
  5. African American smokers are more likely to die from smoking-related cancer as compared to whites.

Mentholated Cigarettes

  1. Approximately three out of four African American smokers chose mentholated
  2. cigarettes.
  3. 90% of African American youth “prefer” mentholated cigarettes.
  4. Mentholated cigarettes are the tobacco industry’s most profitable cigarette. They
  5. produce higher sales than non-mentholated cigarettes and are strategically placed
  6. in Black communities.
  7. KOOL, NEWPORT, and CAMEL are the leading mentholated cigarettes currently in
  8. the market.
  9. There is evidence that mentholated cigarettes may promote the penetration and
  10. spreading of particles (cotinine) resulting in a higher rate of lung cancer among
  11. menthol smokers as compared to smokers of non-mentholated brands.
  12. Menthol smokers may be more likely to inhale deeper with each drag on their cigarette and potentially take in more nicotine than do smokers of non-menthol cigarettes.

MORE FACTS YOU MUST LEARN:

  1. For more than a decade, African American youth have smoked fewer cigarettes than any other racial and ethnic g roup.
  2. It's estimated that 947 million packs of cigarettes worth $1.26billion are sold illegally to children under 18 every year.
  3.  These products generate $221 million in profits for the tobacco industry.
  4. Approximately 60% of smokers begin smoking before the age of 14.
  5. About 90% of smokers start by the time they are 18.
  6. Tobacco companies know that if they don't get kids to smoke while they are young, they most likely never will.
  7. Over 70% of young smokers wish they had never started smoking in the first place.
  8. Cigarette smoking causes more deaths than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, murders, suicides, Illegal drugs, and fires—combined.
  9. Smoking can harm a physically active young person.
  10. The World Health Organization has predicted that by the year 2025, 500million people worldwide will have died from tobacco related illness. That is like a Titanic sinking every 43minutes for 27 years.
  11. Cigarette smoke contains over4,000 chemicals, including arsenic (rat poison), ammonia(toilet cleaner), formaldehyde (used to preserve dead bodies)and hydrogen cyanide (gas chamber poison).
  12. Among young people, regular smoking is responsible for coughsand an increased frequency of respiratory illnesses.
  13. Teens who smoke are 3times more likely than nonsmokers to use alcohol, 8times more likely to use marijuana, and 22 times more likely to use cocaine.
  14. The younger people start smoking cigarettes, the more likely they are to
  15. Tobacco advertising encourages young people to smoke

Slavery and Smoking

Slaves between the ages of 18-30 were usually sold for more money than any other
age group……… ALL African Americans under the age of 30
(especially youth) are SPECIFICALLY targeted by the tobacco industry. More money is spent to addict them than any other race and/or age group.

Slaves were forced to pick tobacco……Cigarettes are more ADDICTIVE than heroine; therefore, the African American smoker is often hooked (enslaved) on smoking throughout their lifetime.

Slaves were branded….. African American communities are “Branded” with
the advertising of KOOL, NEWPORT, and CAMEL—mentholated cigarettes that might be more harmful than non-mentholated cigarettes

Slave labor made the tobacco industry rich…… The tobacco industry lures thousands of African Americans into smoking with their advertising and
continues to generate huge profit.

Slaves died from flogging and severe mistreatment…… African Americans suffer and die disproportionately from smoking-related diseases

Little Cigars, such as Black and Milds and Swisher Sweets:

  • Contain the same toxic and carcinogenic compounds, and causes the same kinds of serious health consequences as cigarette smoking. By the age of 40, the average cigar smoker has lost 5 years of their life.
  • The risk of heart disease for cigar smokers is 30% greater compared to non-smokers.
  • Cigars, little cigars, and cigarettes are comparable in their risk of tobacco-related lung cancer, especially when cigars are inhaled like cigarettes.
  • Cigar smokers are also ten times more likely than non-smokers to have cancer of the larynx and four times as likely to suffer from oral cancer.
  • Cigar smokers are likely to suffer from cancers of the lung, oral cavity, larynx, head and neck, esophagus, and bladder.
  • Male cigar smokers are up to eight times more likely to die from oral cancer and ten times more likely to die from laryngeal cancers than nonsmokers.

THE NAATPN WALL

Traveling “Wall” Exhibit: Tobacco Timeline in African American History
“The Wall” is available for nationwide exhibition. The Wall is a visually striking reminder of just a few of the talented African Americans whose lives were cut short by tobacco use. Images of Louis Armstrong, Zora Neal Hurston, Jesse Owens, and others catch the eye, and below them is a unique timeline of tobacco-related events that took place in African-American history.
Tobacco Timeline in African-American History featured on "The Wall"       

  • 1660s: The industrialization of tobacco contributes to the commercialization of slave trade in North America.
  • 1839: Stephen, slave of Abisha Slade, discovers a process for curing yellow tobacco.
  • 1860s: Estimated 350,000 slaves are involved in tobacco cultivation in the United States.
  • 1900s: Major cigarette manufacturing companies are formed
  • 1910: U.S. cigarette production and consumption overtakes cigars for the first time the same year the National Negro Committee becomes the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
  • 1920s: Mentholated cigarettes are introduced and gain appeal in the Black community for their cool taste.
  • 1930s: Half of the people working in the tobacco manufacturing industry are African-American. African-Americans’ exposure to tobacco is already at a higher level than whites.
  • 1940s: Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. claims that KOOL cigarettes keep the head clear and/or give extra protection against colds.
  • 1950s: White supremacists boycott and attack Philip Morris for "race-mixing" by placing blacks in executive jobs.
  • 1960s: Black magazines are packed with cigarette advertisements that feature African-American models and reference black culture, including Lorillard's "Newport Is a Whole New Bag of Menthol Smoking" (after James Brown's "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag") and R.J. Reynolds’ "Different Smokes for Different Folks" (a nod to a Sly Stone hit) campaign for Salem Extra.
  • 1964: First major report on smoking and health is published concludes that cigarette smoking is a cause of lung cancer.
  • 1970: Congress bans cigarette advertising on television and radio; however, tobacco billboard advertisements are permitted.
  • 1989: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company plans test market of African-American targeted cigarette called "Uptown”, prompting health advocates in Philadelphia, PA, to form “Coalition Against Uptown Cigarette”. The test market is cancelled in 1990.
  • 1992: “Pathways to Freedom: Winning the Fight Against Tobacco”, a guide promoting tobacco cessation in the African-American community, is released.
  • 1994: The National Medical Association (NMA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launches the largest public anti-smoking campaign specifically targeting Blacks.
  • 1995: Philip Morris “X” cigarettes, targeted toward African Americans, are pulled off shelves because of pressure from Black health advocates in Boston.
  • 1998: Tobacco companies sign Master Settlement Agreement prohibiting the marketing to minors.
  • 1999: A group of nationally recognized African-American stakeholders meet in Dallas, TX, to facilitate the development of comprehensive tobacco prevention and control programs for African Americans.
  • 2000: National African American Tobacco Prevention Network (NAATPN) is chartered in Raleigh, NC.
  • 2004: NAATPN successfully organizes grassroots activities to stop Brown & Williamson’s KOOL MIXX hip-hop campaign targeted to African-Americans and other minority youth. Brown & Williamson pays $1.46 million for youth tobacco prevention to settle resulting lawsuit.

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