"We're here today to say enough is enough," said Sharon Eubanks, the formergovernment prosecutor who led the landmark 2005 lawsuit against tobaccocompanies. "The tobacco industry has been targeting the African Americancommunity for decades with deceptive ads and pushing menthol cigarettesthat have an anesthetic quality. These cigarettes are harder to quit andmake it easier for youth to take up smoking."

Convening in Leimert Park, a historic gathering place for Los Angeles'African American community, tobacco control activists showcased a selectionof historical ads created by the tobacco industry to entice AfricanAmericans to smoke and highlighted data about the disastrous health effectsin the Black community that are attributable to tobacco use.

Leading the effort were Eubanks as well as Rev. Anthony Evans, executivedirector of the Washington, D.C.-based National Black Church Initiative.

The call to stop the tobacco industry's targeting of African Americanscomes at a time when the United States Congress is considering legislationto give the FDA authority to regulate cigarettes. This legislation wouldprohibit tobacco companies from adding flavorings like cherry and peach tocigarettes, but contains a specific exemption for menthol.

"The U.S. Congress wants to ban adding candy and fruit flavors tocigarettes because it makes them more attractive to kids," said Eubanks."It is unacceptable that menthol is not included."

According to the most recent California Tobacco Survey in 2005, AfricanAmericans in California have the highest overall smoking rate of any othergroup at 19.3 percent, compared to that of the general population at 13.9percent. African American men and women both smoke at higher rates thanother groups at 21.3 percent and 17.4 percent respectively, yet theyattempt to quit more often and successfully quit at lower rates than anyother group.

Advertising and promotion of tobacco products is prevalent in AfricanAmerican communities in California. Throughout the years, AfricanAmericans have been exposed to hundreds of tobacco ads, most of which arefor menthol cigarettes. Historically, the tobacco industry placesproportionately more menthol cigarette ads in African American magazinesthan general population magazines.

"Smoking is not glamorous or sexy as these ads, so prevalent in ourcommunity, make it appear," said Rev. Evans. "It's lethal. And thistargeting by the tobacco industry must stop."

Tobacco use is the key contributor in the three major causes of death amongAfrican Americans: heart disease, cancer and stroke. Lung cancer ratesare especially high in the African American community, with AfricanAmerican men 24 percent more likely than White men to have the disease.

Tobacco control activists and community members are in town to attend thetobacco control conference, "A Community Under Siege: The State of BlackCalifornia and Tobacco Use." The conference will be held at the LosAngeles Airport Hilton on Friday, September 26. Participants of theall-day conference, sponsored by the California Department of PublicHealth, will discuss and develop recommendations to deal with the immensetoll tobacco use is having on California's African American population.

The URSA Institute is a non-profit, full service, social interestconsulting firm providing training and technical assistance,community-based program planning, implementation, and evaluation, andsocial marketing services. URSA works to emphasize community-levelinterventions, community driven research and evaluation and culturallycompetent training and technical assistance.

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