The Marlboro Journal of Medicine

I teamed up with Dr. Alan Blum again for a Tobacco comic (our first one is here). This comic appeared in the opinion section of The Oregonian this last Sunday.

click to enlarge

Although the prevalence of cigarette smoking has declined to 20%, among U.S. adults, those with the least education and lowest incomes are still the most likely to light up. 40% of those who lack a high school diploma smoke, compared to just 10% with a college degree. Minority groups are especially hard hit: African-Americans are far more likely than other racial groups to develop lung cancer even if they smoke the same amount.

As various legal restrictions have been placed on cigarette advertising, tobacco companies have shifted their promotions to convenience stores and bars where they enroll young adults for direct-mail discount offers and gifts.

To reach its youthful and less educated customers, Philip Morris, America's largest cigarette company, is increasingly recruiting its sales force on college campuses, cultivating ties with more than 35 universities across the country.

Dr. Alan Blum, director the the University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, teamed up with Portland cartoonist Matt Bors to show how Big Tobacco has succeeded in attracting college students as employees in the face of medical admonitions against smoking.