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Objectives: To investigate African Americans' opinions about the philanthropic contributions of the tobacco industry to Black organizations., Methods: One thousand African Americans were randomly selected using a stratified cluster sample design of 10 U.S. congressional districts represented by African Americans., Results: Almost two-thirds of African Americans favored accepting tobacco industry philanthropy as long as the recipients do not support smoking. A majority agreed that the tobacco industry gives money to African American communities to improve its image (71.2%), make money (83.2%), and to encourage people to smoke (60.5%). About one-third stated they believed it gave money to help the community (34.4%). Multiple logistic regression showed that women, the college educated, and current smokers were significantly (p<0.05) more likely to favor accepting tobacco industry philanthropy. Multiple logistic regression revealed significant differences by education, smoking status, and selective attitudinal and behavioral variables with regard to tobacco industry philanthropy. The 18-34 age group was significantly less likely to agree that the tobacco industry gives money to help the community, with or without covariate adjustment., Conclusion: Results of this study are important because despite the perceived benefits to these communities, tobacco industry contributions could mitigate community concerns about tobacco-related diseases, mask their significance, and undermine tobacco control strategies and policies.

Background: This paper examines the effect of pro- and antisocial opinions about communities on cigarette use by Black, Colored, and White 8th- and 11th-grade students in Cape Town, South Africa., Methods: This analysis consists of 1,328 students who completed a questionnaire in 1997 on sociodemographic characteristics, substance abuse, adolescent behaviors, and opinions about their communities. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess hypotheses related to the social development model positing direct and indirect associations between community constructs and smoking within the previous 31 days., Results: White students had the highest proportion (36.3%, P < 0.01) of past-31-days smokers compared to Colored (29.7%) and Black (9.7%) students. SEM analysis showed that among all groups the strongest association (beta = 0.29, Whites, P < 0.01; beta =.14, Coloreds, P < 0.01; beta = 0.05, Blacks, P < 0.05) with recent cigarette smoking was the personal knowledge of adults who engaged in antisocial behavior., Conclusions: Youth smoking behavior may be affected by antisocial adult behavior, subjective adult norms, and community affirmation. Thus, in addition to other factors, social norms and community influence should be considered in preventing adolescent smoking.