Quitting smoking is physically more difficult for darker skinned people!
It's not just people who were born with darker skin, though. Things like tanning and exposure to the sun increase melanin production and increase the same risk factors. The way they found this was by correlating the color of the person's forehead, which is determined by sun exposure and genes. The darkness of the forehead was positively correlated to the number of cigarettes smoked per day as well as nicotine dependence.
A 2008 study of 12,000 people suggested that quitting smoking reduced the chance of others around them smoking. Spouses chances of smoking decreased by 67%, siblings by 25%, and friends by 36%. Interventions to quit smoking with social support did not increase long term cessation rates, though. Also, smokers with major depression disorders are often less successful at quitting than the non-depressed.
