BET, May 14, 2009
{snip} A surprising new study suggests that darker-skinned people have a stronger propensity for becoming addicted to tobacco.
“We have found that the concentration of melanin is directly related to the number of cigarettes smoked daily, levels of nicotine dependence, and nicotine exposure among African Americans,” said Gary King, professor of biobehavioral health, Penn State. He said that higher concentrations of melanin—the color pigment in skin and hair—may be placing darker pigmented smokers at increased susceptibility to nicotine dependence and tobacco-related carcinogens than lighter skinned smokers, according to scientists.
Early studies also show that nicotine has a “biochemical affinity for melanin,” he said, suggesting that the connection could mean there’s an accumulation of the addictive agent in melanin-containing tissues of smokers with greater amounts of skin pigmentation.
“The point of the study is that, if in fact, nicotine does bind to melanin, populations with high levels of melanin could indicate certain types of smoking behavior, dependence, and health outcomes that will be different from those in less pigmented populations,” explained King. {snip}
[Editor’s Note: “Link between facultative melanin and tobacco use among African Americans,” by Gary Kinga, Valerie B. Yergerb, et al., can be read on-line or downloaded in HTML or as a PDF file here.
Original article
(Posted on May 18, 2009)
Comments
““We have found that the concentration of melanin is directly related to the number of cigarettes smoked daily, levels of nicotine dependence, and nicotine exposure among African Americans,” said Gary King, professor of biobehavioral health, Penn State.”
I wonder if they looked at IQ as a factor? More blacks smoke because smoking is more prevalent amongst those with lower IQ. I bet the important difference is found in the brain not in the skin.
I saw some HHS Dept. figures. The black smoking rate slightly less than white smoking rate.
Prevalence of smoking by country correlates with this study: Greeks, Turks and Albanians are always at the top, all are olive skinned Mediterraneans.
Someones’ got some ‘splain’ ta do.
I don’t know about smoking, but they ARE more likely to rob, rape, and murder.
“King states that previous research shows that nicotine has a biochemical affinity for melanin.”
WHAT “previous research”???? Suspiciously, he doesn’t say….
The only source online for this fanciful idea is…. King’s article!!
It is conceivable that blacks are genetically disposed to nictoine addiction, but his conclusions are so vague and full of hedges it is impossible to lend them any credence.
Someone should take a hard look at Penn State and its Dept of Biobehavioral science….
King is listed as having a PhD, it DOES NOT SAY IN WHICH SUBJECT (eng lit??)
Do any of these people have any medical training???
Hey, Amren! Don’t you too become PC & communistic.
Anyone out there ever read older, non-PC US history books? Just about every great (white) American pre-1990 SMOKED CIGARETTES or used tobacco! Did they have low IQ’s then, but now everyone’s so smart? Make a list of western civ. greats, 1700-today, who never used tobacco. Short list? Yes.
This is a non-story, looking to get even more sympathy for the poor old “blacks”. More whining.
> Prevalence of smoking by country correlates with this study: >Greeks, Turks and Albanians are always at the top, all are >olive skinned Mediterraneans.
Lol. Not all of those populations you mentioned are olive skinned and there are plenty of blonde/redhead/brunettes in those populations who smoke.
People usually smoke to relax and unwind, and get rid of stress. The countries where the people are less stressed out and have many ways to relax and exercise tend to smoke less than countries where people are more stressed out and have fewer avenues of releasing their stress.
This also explains why Russians drink so much. They are stressed out more than other people. However, their drug of choice is not nicotine but alcohol.
Here’s a typical leftist response to such studies: “That’s impossible! I know a very dark-skinned person - and he DOESN’T smoke.”
Lol. Not all of those populations you mentioned are olive skinned and there are plenty of blonde/redhead/brunettes in those populations who smoke.
____
@YoungTurk:
I just meant that those white people are DARKER than the other Europeans. I am one of them and don’t smoke. That doesn’t change the fact, Greeks and Turks smoke clearly more than the Germans here. too.
Moreover, do you really think that the Greeks are more stressed out than the English? Are the Swedes more stressed out because they drink too much, like the Russians? Could be a weak correlation (but not a scientific one, just an observation) between the skin color and the alcohol consumption?
Sorry, but I can’t buy into this one.
The image of smokers has changed overall. I’m old enough to remember when it was very commonplace, and few people batted an eye when someone lit up. Everyone kept ashtrays in their home, smokers or not.
Hey, Amren! Don’t you too become PC & communistic.
Anyone out there ever read older, non-PC US history books? Just about every great (white) American pre-1990 SMOKED CIGARETTES or used tobacco! Did they have low IQ’s then, but now everyone’s so smart? Make a list of western civ. greats, 1700-today, who never used tobacco. Short list? Yes.
This is a non-story, looking to get even more sympathy for the poor old “blacks”. More whining.
Posted by Anonymous at 5:05 AM on May 19
I agree. Statistics show that blacks are actually less likely to smoke than whites. Most blacks I know abhor smoking. I don’t think IQ has anything to do with it either. Don’t Asian males have some of the highest smoking rates of any nationality? Smoking has more to do with cultural factors than anything else, same as alcohol consumption. If you live in a society that tolerates smoking or have parents who smoke then you are more likely to smoke as well; that’s all there is to it. This is just another sob story about how blacks are always the “victims.”
I’ve known more whites that smoke than blacks. As an earlier poster said, this is another way to make blacks look like victims and not treat them like responsible people. Why do liberals always feel the need to do this? They complain that blacks are oppressed and treated like children….well, it’s the liberals that are doing that!
