October 30, 2009
Ex-tobacco insider says companies target blacks
Courtesy photo
LaTanisha Wright quit Brown & Williamson Tobacco after it merged with R.J. Reynolds.
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A former tobacco industry executive said Friday in Charleston that cigarette companies have targeted black people in America.
LaTanisha Wright began working for the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., based in Louisville, Ky., in 2001. She resigned after the company merged with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco in July 2004 to form Reynolds American.
"My goal is to educate people in churches, schools and community centers, as well as public health officials," Wright said. She said her experience in the tobacco industry makes her better able to help people now.
"Our training stresses how Big Tobacco targets black communities. A lot of people living in black communities don't recognize that," Wright said. "They targeted black communities and youth. They post many more billboards and signs in black communities than in white communities."
About 40 people attended Wright's five-hour training session on Friday at the Blessed John XXIII Pastoral Center. Melissa Lewis, who works for the West Virginia Department of Veterans Affairs, was one of them.
"Today, people start smoking at a younger age," she said. "They think it is cool and brings them more friends. They don't realize the dangers and threats to their future health."
Not only that, she said, but smoking is a major economic drain for many people, with cigarettes often selling for about $4 a pack.
"Cigarettes are very expensive. By not buying them, we could be better off financially," she said.
Drema Robertson coordinates work for the African-American Tobacco Prevention Center in Bluefield and helped organize Wright's training sessions in Charleston, Bluefield and Kimball, McDowell County this week.
Donald Reed, who works with Robertson, has visited coal towns over the past two years encouraging people to quit using tobacco.
"West Virginia is No. 1 in the country in spit tobacco use, No. 2 in smoking during pregnancy and No. 3 in the smoking rate among adults," Reed said.
Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjny...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.
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In her comments, La Tanisha Wright makes a number of rhetorical claims about tobacco companies.
Unfortunately for her and her organization, her claims are simply wrong. As the maker of Newport cigarettes we should know. The facts are important – and here they are.
Lorillard and all of the other major tobacco companies stopped advertising on billboards, in arenas, stadiums, shopping malls, or on other large signs more than a decade ago. Ms. Wright has it wrong when she says we are posting billboards in African American neighborhoods to induce youths to smoke. Just because she says we are doesn’t make it so. The fact is that youth smoking rates are down and that African American youth smoke at a much lower rate than white youth.
It’s time to set the record straight.
Posted on behalf of Lorillard Tobacco Company
Unfortunately for her and her organization, her claims are simply wrong. As the maker of Newport cigarettes we should know. Here are the facts.
In the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with the state Attorneys General, Lorillard agreed to severely limit its marketing practices, including an agreement not to directly or indirectly market our products to youth. The agreement, among other actions and measures, has achieved the lowest level of youth smoking in recorded history.
Lorillard and all of the other major tobacco companies stopped advertising on billboards, in arenas, stadiums, shopping malls, or on other large signs more than a decade ago. Ms. Wright simply has it wrong when she says we are posting billboards in African American neighborhoods to induce youths to smoke.
Posted on behalf of Lorillard Tobacco Company