Grants issued to assess effects of smoking, smoke

Last update: November 19, 2007 - 7:11 PM

Eleven research grants totaling $2.8 million are being issued in Minnesota to assess the effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke on young Hispanics and African immigrants.

Some of the grants also are going toward addressing the effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke in multifamily housing.

The money is being distributed by ClearWay Minnesota, an independent, nonprofit antismoking organization whose funding includes money from the state's 1998 tobacco settlement.

Among the grants:

• $516,171 for a study on secondhand smoke migration in apartment buildings.

• $309,452 for legal research and a survey of property owners on smoke-free residential options for condominiums.

• $126,440 to assess exposure to secondhand smoke from male relatives on African immigrant women and girls.

• $89,776 to develop tobacco intervention for Hispanic youth.

PAUL WALSH