Black men in the MS are DYING from tobacco use.

Tobacco ads are found up to 10x more in black communities.

According to the CDC, we must add commercial tobacco to the long list of causes for health inequities and disparities in the black community. 

Here are the facts.

Commercial tobacco* gets in the way of achieving health equity for African American people:

  • In 2020, 19.4% of non-Hispanic Black adults currently used any tobacco product.1
  • In 2021, an estimated 8.2% of non-Hispanic Black youth currently used any tobacco product, compared with 11.0% of non-Hispanic White youth.2 An estimated 3.1% of non-Hispanic Black youth currently used cigars, compared with 1.4% of non-Hispanic White youth.2
  • African American people usually start smoking at an older age than White people do but are more likely to die from smoking-related disease.3,4
  • About the same percent of African American adults and White adults smoke, but African American people smoke fewer cigarettes per day.3,4

*“Commercial tobacco” means harmful products that are made and sold by tobacco companies. It does not include “traditional tobacco” used by Indigenous groups for religious or ceremonial purposes.

Our Solution

The Institute for Minority Health's Reducing Tobacco Inequities project is a community-based approach. The community-based model recognizes the importance of treating members of a community as active and equal participants in all phases of the process to facilitate change.


To address health equity, we work with organizations and coalitions engaged in MS anti-smoking advocacy efforts. The specific aims of this project are to implement a culturally specific tobacco cessation program targeting African American males ages 12 and older in the Mississippi Delta River Region of Mississippi.

More Resources

  • References
    1. Cornelius ME, Loretan CG, Wang TW, Jamal A, Homa DM. Tobacco Product Use Among Adults — United States, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:397–405 [accessed 2022 May 25].
    2. Gentzke AS, Wang TW, Cornelius M, et al. Tobacco Product Use and Associated Factors Among Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021. MMWR Surveill Summ 2022;71(No. SS-5):1–29. [accessed 2022 May 24].
    3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Tobacco Use Among U.S. Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups—African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics: A Report of the Surgeon General [PDF - 389KB]. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health, 1998 [accessed 2021 Jan 19].
    4. Schoenborn CA, Adams PF, Peregoy JA. Health Behaviors of Adults: United States, 2008–2010 [PDF - 3.2MB]. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 10(257) [accessed 2021 Jan 19].
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