Tobacco Cessation Draws Audience to Tamarack

BECKLEY -- A variety of organizations are coming together to "Follow the Signs."
The Southern Coalfields African American Tobacco Prevention Network organized a training program to raise awareness about how tobacco affects the African American community. Groups came together Monday at Tamarack for an informational cessation session. 
"The tobacco industry spends millions of dollars, first to target African Americans. They spend $35 million per day on marketing cigarettes in the United State. And a lot of that money is placed into the black community," West Region Director LaTanisha Wright said. 
According to the National African American Tobacco Network, each year 47,000 blacks die from tobacco-related illnesses.
Additionally, the group says more African Americans die from lung cancer than any other race in the United States.