A tobacco executive was quoted calling Asian/Pacific Islander communities “a potential gold mine” because people who are Asian/Pacific Islander are “pre-disposed” to smoking, insinuating all people who identify as Asian/Pacific Islander are exactly alike when it comes to getting easily hooked on their deadly products.1 While we know that’s not true, we do know that Big Tobacco is predisposed to greed. Because of this, Big Tobacco is particularly aggressive in its advertising to Asian/Pacific Islander communities, placing more advertising on billboards and inside stores in urban neighborhoods where people predominantly identify as Asian American.2 And while Lunar New Years are symbolic of new beginnings – occasions to honor deities and ancestors – tobacco companies see them as opportunities to prey on Asian/Pacific Islander communities, feigning support to promote their harmful products.
Though the overall smoking rate for people who identify as Asian/Pacific Islander is at less than 10 percent, the lowest of all compared populations, gender and ethnicity play a role. For example, for Asian/Pacific Islander men, the smoking rate is just over 16 percent.3 And Big Tobacco makes its products cheaper in Pacific Islander communities than in Asian communities.4 Pacific Islander youth also have higher smoking and tobacco use rates than among Asian youth.5
Asian/Pacific Islander communities are taking steps to protect their youth, and have seen the largest percentage drops in youth smoking over the past 15 years.6 The numbers are going in the right direction, but the fight isn’t over until that number is zero.
Tobacco’s impact on health disparities in California
For decades, the tobacco industry has aggressively targeted California’s diverse communities with predatory practices. Internal documents from Big Tobacco outline their strategies – many of which are shocking attempts to peddle deadly products by way of product discounts and manipulative advertising. They even gave away free products to youth in the past. These tactics masquerade as support for communities under the guise of cultural celebration.
Unfortunately, the tactics have worked. Big Tobacco aggressively targeted communities and, as a result, some populations have higher rates of tobacco use, experience greater secondhand smoke exposure at work and at home, and have higher rates of tobacco-related disease than the general population.7
Addressing tobacco-related health inequities is key to California’s efforts to fight tobacco, our state’s number one cause of preventable death and disease.8 Tobacco use, pricing, and its impact across California were analyzed where significant disparities were found across various populations. See how Big Tobacco affects each community in the Nation’s most diverse state.
