greater adverse health consequences at relatively earlier points in the lifecourse compared with Whites, and adoption of problematic health behaviors such as smoking at later points in the lifecourse to mitigate the experiences chronic stress. Combined, this literature indicates that disparities in long-term health consequences of cigarette and marijuana use may reflect differences in lifecourse patterns of use across time, potentially suggesting that a public health approach that recognizes the structural and institutional contribution of stress and discrimination to onset of problem health behaviors may be an effective strategy to reducing long-term health consequences from use. In the short term, prevention and intervention strategies that are culturally appropriate, targeted, and resourced should be adopted to specifically reduce the onset and persistence of smoking among Blacks in the US.
