Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #117821

Frances Stillman, EdD, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21209, 443-287-6360, fstillma@jhsph.edu, Lee Bone, MPH, RN, Department of Health Policy & Management, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Hampton House 608, Baltimore, MD 21205, and Katherine Clegg Smith, PhD, Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University, 624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205.

As a result of increased targeting by Big Tobacco, smoking rates are escalating among 18-24 year olds. Studies have looked at young adults attending college (Rigotti, 2000), but little if any information exists on a more vulnerable and high-risk population, which is unemployed, underemployed, or blue-collar, inner city African American young adults (Fagan P, 2003). Little is known about the social, cultural, and environmental factors that might be influencing the high smoking rates as well as if the changing policy environment (i.e., increases in cigarette prices) may be affecting these urban disenfranchised communities. The study, conducted using the principles of community-based participatory research, had three phases: focus groups; a community-mapping to identify all locations where cigarettes are sold; and a survey of urban African American adults 18-24 year olds enrolled in employment education and training programs in Baltimore City. The survey assessed smoking behaviors, tobacco acquisition strategies and smoking norms. Preliminary findings indicate that a) smoking is an overarching normative behavior, b) there are relatively few restrictions on access and use of cigarettes, c) informal and social relationships are important sources of cigarettes for these young adults and d) single cigarettes (loosies) are widely available for purchase from many different sources. This presentation will provide descriptive data on the extremely prevalent informal economy that is developing in these African American communities and will raise the issue of how the increase in cigarette costs may be influencing the buying and selling of cigarettes for this high-risk population.

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