title: Barriers to smoking cessation in inner-city African American young adults.
abstract: The prevalence of tobacco use among urban African American persons aged 18 to 24 years not enrolled in college is alarmingly high and a challenge for smoking cessation initiatives. Recent data from inner-city neighborhoods in Baltimore, Md, indicate that more than 60% of young adults smoke cigarettes. We sought to describe community-level factors contributing to this problem. Data from focus groups and surveys indicate that the sale and acquisition of "loosies" are ubiquitous and normative and may contribute to the high usage and low cessation rates.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Global Tobacco Control, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Md 21205, USA. fstillma@jhsph.edu
authors.forename: Frances A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Stillman
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bone
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Avila-Tang
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yancey
authors.forename: Calvin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Street
authors.forename: Kerry
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Owings
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015142:Baltimore / Q000453:epidemiology; D003132:Commerce; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D012931:Social Environment; D014505:Urban Population