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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Big tobacco tactics in targeting low-income, inner-city menthol smokers: A racial and economic justice perspective

Valerie Yerger, ND, MA, Jennifer Przewoznik, MSW, and Ruth Malone, RN, PhD, FAAN. Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, Box 0612, San Francisco, CA 94143-0612, (415) 476-2784, valerie.yerger@ucsf.edu

Low-income individuals suffer from significant health disparities in the United States. Smoking rates among low-income smokers remain higher than among the general population and the health effects of smoking have greatly impacted low-income communities of color. African Americans suffer disproportionately from chronic and preventable tobacco-related diseases compared to white Americans. Rates of smoking among most populations decline as education increases, but in low-income, inner city areas, lack of educational opportunity is compounded by lack of access to health care, few employment opportunities, and other environmental injustices. This presentation will review findings from an analysis of more than 200 previously internal tobacco industry documents focused on the tobacco industry's targeting of low-income, inner city communities. We reviewed documents found online in the University of California, San Francisco Legacy Tobacco Documents depository and on various industry document websites. These documents, spanning the last three decades, reveal that to increase their menthol market shares, major tobacco companies aggressively competed against one another, explicitly targeting low-income, inner-city and predominantly African American communities. Tobacco companies employed special tactics designed to gain entrance into these “difficult to reach”, yet vulnerable populations, including special van programs from which free cigarettes were distributed, event sponsorships, heavy billboard advertising, and tailored retail programs for the inner city. During this marketing blitz, smoking among low-income, inner-city African Americans increased and the menthol share of the tobacco market exploded. California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, Grants #9RT-0095 and 12AT-1700; National Cancer Institute, CA87472.

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