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The Casualties Left Behind in Tobacco’s Cinders of Combustion

  • Tobacco (K Garrison, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This paper (1) defines the scope of tobacco-related health disparities; (2) reviews population-based approaches aimed to eliminate disparities—Medicaid, the U.S. Preventive Health Service Task Force, and the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act; and (3) discusses their potential role in reducing tobacco use and lung cancer disparities.

Recent Findings

The implementation of population-based approaches aimed to reduce tobacco use and chronic diseases has been inequitable. The poor are predominately affected by limited access to comprehensive tobacco cessation coverage. Moreover, lung cancer screenings reveal that those disproportionately excluded are African-Americans who have the highest lung cancer incidence and mortality in the USA. The potential impact of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act is unclear, but the proposed rule to ban menthol in combustible and not non-combustible tobacco products could potentially contribute to a cycle of addiction in disadvantaged communities. Alternative solutions, including civil rights litigation, should be investigated.

Summary

Eliminating tobacco-related health disparities is a health, social justice, civil rights, and ethical issue that deserves immediate attention and equitable policy solutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for the Study of Tobacco, Department Health Behavior and Health Education, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St. #820, Little Rock, AR, 72205-7199, USA

    Pebbles Fagan

  2. Department of African American Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Mignonne Guy

  3. School of Public Health, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Linda Alexander

  4. Minority Research Center on Tobacco and Addictions, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff, AR, USA

    Valandra Oliver

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  1. Pebbles Fagan
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Correspondence to Pebbles Fagan.

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Fagan, P., Guy, M., Alexander, L. et al. The Casualties Left Behind in Tobacco’s Cinders of Combustion. Curr Addict Rep 6, 183–190 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-019-00247-1

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