Washington, DC - Most African Americans favor raising taxes on cigarettes regardless of the impact on low-income smokers, according to the results of the first national survey of African Americans' opinions on tobacco taxes. The findings run contrary to the position advanced by some advocates that few African Americans favor increasing taxes on cigarettes.

"The survey counters the argument of some groups who say African Americans may be less receptive to higher cigarette taxes because the burden of increased tobacco costs would fall on low-income smokers, many of whom are African American, " according to Gary King, Ph.D., of Pennsylvania State University, principal investigator of the research team that conducted the study. "In fact, 75 percent of respondents disagreed with the idea that raising cigarette taxes is unfair to African Americans."

The survey, published in the May issue of the American Journal of Public Health, was funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

African Americans are disproportionately affected by smoking when compared to whites, in terms of higher lung cancer rates, more premature deaths and increased smoking-related morbidity. "The results of this survey should encourage local, state and federal officials to raise cigarette taxes and enact other anti-tobacco laws as a way of reducing consumption of tobacco products in black communities," King said. "Such policies will improve the health of African Americans and reduce the social costs associated with smoking."

Nearly half of African Americans surveyed believe that taxes on tobacco products should be increased, and almost 58 percent reported that they would not be opposed to increasing taxes on cigarettes even if low-income smokers were the group most affected. About 30 percent believed that cigarette taxes should be reduced.

A majority of the respondents (52.9%) believed that cigarette smoking was increasing among African Americans, and almost 42 percent were of the opinion that it was "very easy" for minors to buy cigarettes in their community. Respondents who perceived that smoking was increasing among African Americans were also more likely to favor increasing taxes as a means of reducing tobacco use.

This survey should also promote diversity among anti-smoking coalitions and grassroots organizations, development of anti-tobacco alliances involving African American civic and political organizations, and a broader understanding of African Americans' opinions regarding tobacco control policies, according to the Pennsylvania State University researcher.

The survey of 1,000 African American households was focused on 10 Congressional districts served by African American representatives. The ten Congressional districts were: Atlanta (Georgia's 5th District), Birmingham (Alabama's 7th District), Chicago (Illinois' 1st District), Dallas (Texas' 30th District), Detroit (Michigan's 14th District), Los Angeles (California's 32nd District), Memphis (Tennessee's 9th District), New York City (New York's 10th District), Raleigh (North Carolina's 1st District) and Washington, DC. Survey respondents reflected the African-American age and sex distribution in the country, according to the 1997 U.S. Bureau of the Census estimates. Smoking prevalence among the respondents was 20 percent, slightly below the national rate of 23.2 percent for African Americans in 2000.

Other findings of the survey were:

• Respondents from the Midwest, Northeast and West were more than twice as likely as residents from the Tobacco South to favor government tax increases on tobacco products;
• Younger African Americans and those at higher education levels were more likely to favor increasing cigarette taxes than were older adults and those with less education; and
• Non-smokers and former smokers were more likely than current smokers to agree that taxes on tobacco products should be raised.

* story taken from www.jointogether.org

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