Teens have been attracted by cigar celebrity marketing campaigns and new flavors, including grape, cinnamon, and apple, said study author Cristine Delnovo of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. "The cigar industry (has) successfully marketed their products to adult women and adolescents of both sexes," she said.

Delnovo and colleagues estimated that cigar consumption rose about 28 percent in the U.S. between 2000 and 2004, even as cigarette smoking declined. The 2004 New Jersey Youth Tobacco Survey found that 17 percent of high-school boys in the state smoked cigars, compared to 16 percent who said they smoked cigarettes. A survey of Cleveland, Ohio-area teens also found that cigar smoking had become more popular than cigarette smoking.

"We may be deceiving ourselves into thinking that we are winning the war against smoking based solely on the figures relating to cigarette smokers, without focusing on the figures related to cigar smokers," said John Banzhaf III, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health.

The research was published in the December 2005 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Delnevo, C. D., Foulds, J., and Hrywna, M. (2005) Trading Tobacco: Are Youths Choosing Cigars Over Cigarettes? Am J Public Health, 95: 2123.

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:

Posted by tokerdesigner on 18 Sep 08 07:11 PM EDT

Much depends on whether switching to cigars means not inhaling. These young "smokers" might thus be immunizing themselves for life against ever getting hooked on hot-burning overdose inhalant cigarettes-- certainly an improvement. The right wing talk show host (rwtsh) Dennis Prager boasted on the air that he had taught his son-- then underage-- the "art" of cigar smoking, and I must say I agree it was a good idea. My dad was an "I don't inhale" pipe smoker who lived to be 92. Today, however, note that the vaporizer and the e-cigarette (or -cigar) now exist and are increasingly affordable. Absolutism about smoking or nicotine is not necessary.

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