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Smoke You Out - The four largest American tobacco companies, the Justice Department and a coalition of anti-tobacco groups reached a federally enforced settlement, which requires tobacco companies to reveal the harmful health effects of tobacco use. BET.com takes a look at just how much “Big Tobacco” is affecting the African-American community.  — Dominique Zonyéé (@DominiqueZonyee)(Photo: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)

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Tobacco Targeting - For more than three decades, tobacco manufacturers such as Lorillard, who makes Newport menthol cigarettes, have targeted African-Americans through scholarships, including the United Negro College Fund and the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, sponsored athletic events and more. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

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Promotions Are Everywhere - Since the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) in 1998, the average youth in the United States is annually exposed to 559 tobacco ads. Every adult female is exposed to 617 advertisements and every African-American adult is exposed to 892 ads. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

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Tobacco Industry and the Black Community’s Relationship - In exchange for good will, African-American organizations and public figures have built relationships with tobacco companies. For example, civil rights activist and House Rep. Charles Rangel received $47,950 in sponsorship from the tobacco industry since 1986.(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Photo By Alex Wong/Getty Images

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Menthols: The Cigarettes for Black Youth - Due to direct marketing, by the 1990s, Newport became the most popular cigarette among Blacks. Almost 84 percent of African-American smokers aged 12 years or older reported smoking a mentholated brand of cigarette compared to 24 and 32 percent of their Caucasian and Latino counterparts, respectively. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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What Is Menthol? - Menthol is a natural substance found in spearmint and peppermint and was first added to cigarettes in 1920. It has pain-relieving properties and can also be found in cough drops.(Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Menthols Are No Better - On the contrary to popular belief, studies have shown that menthol cigarettes allow for deeper inhalation making it easier to start smoking and harder to quit, according to a 2013 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study. (Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images)

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The Dangers of Mentholated Cigarettes - Mentholated cigarettes may increase the risk of both lung and bronchial cancer more than regular cigarettes by promoting lung permeability of smoke particles. Furthermore, smokers of menthol cigarettes do have higher levels of cotinine (the most common chemical produced by the body from nicotine) in their bloodstream than non-menthol smokers.(Photo: Jan Pitman/Getty Images)

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How Much Does It Cost to Get You Hooked? - Cigarette manufacturers spent $8.37 billion in 2011 on advertising and promotional expenses in the United States alone, up from $8.05 billion in 2010.  (Photo: Mark Scott/Getty Images)

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How Much Are African-Americans Spending on Cigarettes? - It looks like “big tobacco” is coming out on top, as 19.4 percent of African-American adults are current smokers, which is slightly higher than the national rate. Lorillard’s net sales increased 4.9 percent and in 2013.(Photo: LaCoppola-Meier/Getty Images)

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How Are Cigarettes Affecting Black Quality of Life? - Cigarettes are killing the Black community one pull at a time. Compared to white Americans, African-Americans are at an increased risk for lung cancer even though they smoke about the same amount. Diseases from smoking kill more Black Americans each year than car crashes, AIDS, murders, and drug and alcohol abuse combined.(Photo: Chicago Tribune/MCT /Landov)

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Leading Killer - Smoking causes 80 percent of deaths from lung cancer among African-Americans, the third-largest killer for that community after heart disease and stroke, which can also be caused by smoking, according to a 2012 report from the American Cancer Society.(Photo: JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty)

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Is Targeting Black Communities Illegal? - One woman thought so. Gloria Tucker, whose mother and grandmother both died of smoking-related illnesses, sued Philip Morris USA, Lorillard Tobacco, R.J. Reynolds and Liggett Group in 2007 for negligently and fraudulently targeting Blacks with their products.(Photo: Yellow Dog Productions/Getty Images)

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The Menthol Debate - While the menthol debate has been discussed over the years, the FDA in 2013 launched a campaign to determine if menthol cigarettes were more harmful than non-menthols. While Lorillard took a stance on the socio-economic effects of menthols, the FDA used a scientific approach which kept Menthols legal, but outlined specific dangers.(Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Photo By Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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Black Media Speaks Out - Since Black communities have been disproportionally targeted by tobacco companies, the National Newspaper Publishers Association and National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters filed a brief in February to have the ads regarding the dangers of smoking disseminated through their outlets. (Photo: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)

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Where You Can Go to Quit - If you are trying to quit smoking, visit the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network here. Also for more information on the dangers of smoking, visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention here.(Photo: National African American Tobacco Prevention Network)