"Our ancestors never intended that tobacco be abused as it is today. With their chemical additives and ready availability, cigarettes have turned tobacco into a deadly substance. It is a dreadful irony, then, that Native Americans have the highest percentage of cigarette smokers, 40 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's January 2004 report. Fifty-three percent of our men and 33 percent of our women are smokers.

The reasons for the high rates of smoking among native people are not simple. Social and economic class plays a major role in the problem, as it does among other groups. The role of tobacco in the cultural life of native people, however, adds an especially challenging aspect to programs aimed at smoking cessation."

Get the Story:
Mary Annette Pember: Sacred Tobacco Shouldn't Be Abused (The Hartford Courant 3/8)
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