The Master Settlement Agreement and African Americans: Opinions About the Allocation of Resources

Abstract

This article analyzes demographic, attitudinal, and behavioral variables that predict African Americans’ opinions about state distribution of funds received from the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). The sample consisted of 1,000 randomly selected African Americans from 10 U.S. congressional districts represented by African Americans. Descriptive analysis revealed that 38.7% of respondents favored dispersing funds evenly between tobacco control and other state functions, and 63% of respondents favored specifically directing MSA funds to African American communities. Cumulative logit regression analysis showed that age, education, geographic region, and smoking status were significant predictors of opinions about spending MSA funding on antismoking initiatives. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that opinions about targeted MSA funds to African Americans varied by homeownership, views on tobacco excise taxes, the fairness of tobacco taxes to African Americans, and the association between smoking and racism in U.S. society.

Keywords

Master Settlement Agreement tobacco control policy African Americans smoking

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