Is Your Melanin The Reason for Your Addiction?
Melanin, the chemical substance responsible for our rich array of skin tones from light mocha to deep chocolate, can be both a blessing and a curse. It protects us from the sun and absorbs harmful UV rays. However, according to tobacco-nicotine research, it is also the reason why nicotine cessation rates among African-Americans are significantly lower than their White counterparts. While the link between nicotine dependence and melanin may be a revelation for the layman, scientists have known about this dating back to the 1970’s when big tobacco was predatorily marketing cigarettes to the Black community.
African-Americans are disproportionately represented in smoking-related diseases. Albeit African-Americans start smoking at a later age, they are more likely to die from smoking-related illnesses than other racial groups. In the words of a Surgeon General report “African Americans currently bear the greatest health burden.”
The science of it all
- Nicotine as well as tobacco-specific substances that increase risk of cancer have been shown to accumulate in animal tissues containing melanin.
- African Americans have a higher intake of nicotine per cigarette.
- Research has found an association between skin melanin and cigarette consumption.
- Research has found a correlation between facultative melanin (increased melanin due to external factors) and cigarette consumption.
- Higher levels of cotinine–the chemical compound that is a breakdown product of nicotine–observed among African-American smokers.
Lung cancer is the usual suspect when we think of smoking-related illnesses but that is merely one of the myriad of ways tobacco-nicotine claims the lives of African Americans. Heart disease, stroke and diabetes, the 4th leading cause of death among African Americans are leading causes as well–all linked to tobacco-nicotine consumption. The risk of developing diabetes is 30-40% higher for cigarette smokers.
Some sobering facts
- In 2020, 19.4% of non-Hispanic Black adults currently used any tobacco product.
- In 2021, an estimated 8.2% of non-Hispanic Black youth currently used any tobacco product, compared with 11.0% of non-Hispanic White youth.
- The average annual mortality or death rate that can be attributed to smoking is 18% higher for African Americans (338 deaths per 100,000) than for whites (286 deaths per 100,000).
- Approximately 45,000 African Americans die from smoking-related diseases each year.
With such a dismal verdict, kicking the habit should seem more sensible, but smoking cessation is not that black and white. About 780 million people worldwide want to quit smoking, but only 30% have access to the tools to do so, according to the World Health Organization. Close to 80% of smokers are induced before the age of 18 before their prefrontal cortex has fully developed–the part of the brain responsible for reasoning, logical thinking, prioritizing and impulse control. Now add to the equation nicotine’s high affinity for melanin, the irreversible binding of melanin and nicotine, higher levels of stress experienced by African Americans and deliberate targeting of African Americans by big tobacco, and we have the perfect recipe for a health crisis.
Is there a measurable distinction between dependence and addiction? Is that urge you have to check your social media accounts first thing upon waking demonstrably different from the smoker’s desire to start their day lighting up a cigarette? Both behaviors are a response to emotional distress. And we all in some manner fall prey to the machine of mass marketing, even in the privacy of our homes there is no reprieve. 19.4% African Americans are exposed to tobacco promotion on streaming services. With the incessant bombardment of tobacco-nicotine products–a cigarette or even vape pen becomes the likeliest and most accessible palliative. With just one puff a lifetime of addiction ensues, chock-full of disease and sickness. Billions of profit made from the suffering of African Americans in the centuries long saga of racial capitalism.
Phillip Morris, British American Tobacco nor any of the hundreds of companies who sell vape products will ever prioritize Black health. The onus will always be on grassroots led efforts through the support of community organizations to liberate the lungs of Black men, women and our youth. We, the Black collective must mobilize, organize and activate in our homes, our families and our communities.
Aluta continua….the struggle continues!
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