UCLA and MICOP (Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project) are conducting research to address tobacco, vaping and cannabis use among the Indigenous Mexican agricultural worker community. A recently completed pilot study provided an opportunity to collect data, in Spanish and Mixteco, through focus groups, surveys, interviews, and community observations to identify the context and scope of product use; examine knowledge of health consequences and attitudes toward use; understand product access and industry marketing practices; determine how to best reach the community with needed programming. Participants reported considerable tobacco use and second-hand exposure. Results illustrate gaps in knowledge regarding tobacco’s health harms and limited experience with tobacco prevention or control programming. Findings suggest that prevention programs may provide greatest benefits for recent immigrants who rely exclusively on their native Indigenous language, and that cessation resources may be most needed by community members who have been in the US longer, have some Spanish proficiency and greater exposure to industry marketing. This work adds to the limited literature regarding this marginalized populations’ health needs and will serve as a guide for our ongoing community-academic efforts to develop, implement, evaluate and disseminate culturally and linguistically tailored tobacco prevention and control programming for the Indigenous Mexican agricultural worker community in California and beyond.

Project Investigator(s):
Alison Herrmann, PhD, MS

Research Team:
Alison Elliott, MPH
Diana Balderas Trujillo, BS

Community Partner(s): Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project

Funding Source(s): TRDRP #T32IP4921

Project Status: Complete

Publication(s):

  • Herrmann AK, Flores-Haro G, Elliott AM, Lopez M, Chang LC, Gonzalez N, Crespi CM, Ong MK, Lopez A, Berman B, Bastani R. Tobacco Use, Experiences and Knowledge among Indigenous Mexican Agricultural Workers. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. Published online December 25, 2025. doi:10.1007/s10903-025-01840-5