Tobacco use is the single most sellckchem preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States among all ethnic and racial groups. Each year, about 443,000 people die prematurely from smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke; 37% of these are cancer deaths (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2009). For every person who dies from smoking, 20 more people suffer from at least one serious tobacco-related illness. In addition, more than 126 million nonsmoking children and adults are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals in secondhand smoke (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006). Despite these risks, approximately 43 million U.S. adults smoke cigarettes (CDC, 2009), and continued efforts are needed to achieve the four Healthy People 2010 objectives to reduce tobacco use and increase cessation (CDC, 2006a).

Achievement of Healthy People 2010 objectives will require development and implementation of effective and comprehensive tobacco-control interventions responsive to environmental and health-seeking realities and ethnic/racial and linguistic uniqueness of impacted communities. Improved understanding of similarities and differences in tobacco use rates, patterns of use, and related morbidity and mortality among different U.S. subpopulations, including socioeconomically-disadvantaged groups, can inform development of effective interventions. Epidemiological data on U.S. racial/ethnic subpopulations indicate that smoking prevalence among Latinos is lower than among Non-Latino Whites and Non-Latino Blacks (16% vs.

22%��rates are similar for Whites and Blacks; CDC, 2006a). U.S. Latino smokers are more likely to be lighter and intermittent smokers (Trinidad et al., 2009), and there is a traditionally held perception that Latinos are not at high risk for tobacco-related illness and death (Lopez-Quintero, Crum, & Neumark, 2006). This perception, however, is belied by the facts: Lung cancer is the second leading cause of death among Hispanic men and women (National Center for Health Statistics, 2010), and rates of adverse infant health conditions due to maternal smoking and environmental tobacco smoke are particularly high among U.S. born Spanish-speaking Latinos (English, Kharrazi, & Guendelman, 1997; Singh, Siahpush, & Kogan, 2010). There is a high prevalence of ��low-level�� smoking (i.e.

, 1�C5 cigarettes/day) among Spanish-speaking Latinos, which translates into unique risk considerations for this population. Although U.S. Spanish-speaking Latinos have less tobacco dependence and cravings, Reitzel et al. (2009) found that Entinostat low-level smokers are not more likely than heavier smokers to quit smoking, and they may respond similarly to environmental cues and social norms regarding smoking. Latinos are also less likely to receive tobacco cessation information from a physician (Lopez-Quintero et al., 2006), which is further complicated by the fact that U.S.