Hispanics and African-American women are the most likely recruits, since they have not kept pace with the national move toward quitting. Each category is discussed below. The 1996 Synar Amendment to the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Reorganization represents the only comprehensive national effort to address minors access to tobacco. It requires states to enact and enforce legislation that restricts sale and distribution of tobacco products to youth under age 18. Advertising to Minorities Tobacco products are advertised and promoted disproportionately to ethnic communities.
Tobacco companies account for four of the five biggest billboard advertisers in the country.
Tobacco has not merely exploited the African-American community, however. The industry and the African American minority group share an economically interdependent history. First, there was the heavy use of slaves in growing and processing tobacco. After slavery was abolished, the tobacco industry provided some of the only industrial jobs African-American laborers could find in some areas. As the overall market for tobacco has declined, the industry has expanded its promotion and advertising campaigns to include other minority markets as well.