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Cigar and teens

B

barney_rebel

Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2005
Messages
57
Burning brightly
Mar. 31, 2006. 01:00 AM


Research is sparse on teen cigar smokers, but U.S. news outlets are reporting that teens and even pre-teens are lighting up cigars on lunch hours, while waiting for the school bus, or in the parking lot of their local mall.

A recent piece in Teen Vogue quoted the December issue of the American Journal of Public Health, which stated, "the cigar industry has successfully marketed their products to women and adolescents of both sexes," and blamed celebrity endorsements, fruit-flavoured cigars and the low cost of cigars compared to cigarettes.

Last year the Chicago Daily Herald talked to John Bolz, owner of The Smokin' Rocket Cigar Shop, about his selection of stogies. "We can keep up with any martini bar when it comes to flavours. But the most requested flavoured cigar is a vanilla-flavoured one with sugar-coated tip made by Cojimar."

"Companies like Swisher Sweets, Phillies and White Owls offer cigars and cigarillos in flavours such as sour apple, peach and strawberry," The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported last year. "If you're looking for a starter product you want something that's not harsh," Matthew Barry, senior analyst for the U.S. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, told the paper. "These flavours are certainly not appealing to a grizzled, middle-aged, cigar-chomping, stereotypical cigar smoker."

Utah's KSL-TV reported last year, "Surveys show cigarette smoking among Utah teenagers has declined about 39 per cent since 1999. But more and more teens are smoking cigars. In fact, the number doubled in just two years."

David Graham
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Sorry but the actual newspaper article is more extensive. There were some interviews with some of the teens and how they bypassed ID checks for buying tobacco products.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...d=1143760212040
 
I didn't read the article but read your excerpts. I am guessing that no one is mentioning that most of the teenage purchases of these flavoured cigars is for the wrappers to be used to smoke weed. Not to smoke the cigar itself.. just my opinion anyway.
 
Huh well… I’ll kinda agree with the article. The anti smoking brain washing amongst teens isn’t what it used to be. There smarter then that now, and cigars are popular. People may not smoke them but they seem more tolerant to those that do, then people who smoke cigarettes. As for starters, while dose it matter? If you made up your mind to smoke your gonna smoke, doesn’t matter how you start.
 
Mrepp said:
The anti smoking brain washing amongst teens isn’t what it used to be.
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I don't know about anyone else, but those "Truth" ads on TV are some of the most condescending, hypocritical, neo-puritanical bull$#@% I have ever seen. They treat the tobacco companies as though they were different in their marketing and operational strategies from any other company, and that just isn't true.

Furthermore, the message they tell teenagers is to "think for themselves" and not fall sway to the big tobacco boogieman, but if they really meant for the teenagers to think for themselves, this would include being able to decide to smoke, which they explicitly do not condone.

Look, I realize that teenage smoking is a problem: I started smoking cigarettes when I was 14 and had trouble quitting them...in fact, it meant moving from one town to another in order to break the associations I had made. However, if you treat teenagers like idiots; if you condescend to them and tell them one thing while you really mean another, they are smart enough to be able to tell, and no amount of cynical advertising meant to appeal to them will do its job.

Edited to add: "hypocritical"
 
Ha, I can tell you right now they missed the point by a little bit. Kids aren't buying Phillies to smoke cause they are Phillies, they perfer to take the wrapping leaf and pack it with their own 'brand' if you get what I mean. The only reason those are so popular is as far as getting good wrappers, phillies and white owls are super cheap and they come flavored.

Although I did see one kid (16) smoking a white owl just as a cigar. I kinda chuckled and let him try one I had on me, I don't think he will be buying cheaping smokes anymore. Although if he couldn't tell the difference maybe she should stick with the $1 stick you get in plastic tubes. I was 18 at the time so it wasn't like I pushing him smokes.
 
The scary thing about this is cigars kind of fly under the radar most of the time. Seems as though a lot of the taxes and fees are targeted directly at cigarettes and for whatever reason cigars avoid some of the premiums. My guess would be a lot of lawmakers smoke cigars and don't want to tax themselves. I would hate for the anti-smoking syndicates to start targeting cigars and double the price on my sticks.

As far as the "Truth" ads go, I feel like lighting up every time I see one. :angry:
 
I've seen a lot more people in general smoking these cheapo cigars, including teens. The changes in marijuana use among teens does not account for the doubling in the sales of these cigars though, unless all of a sudden more kids are smoking blunts as opposed to joints or whatever. I would bet the reason there has been such an increase in cigar sales among teens and a decrease in cigarettes is due to the ridiculously high price for cigarettes in most urban cities now.

G.D. it...now I want a cigarette.
 
Hey, kids buy Phillies and white Owls to role blunts with. I'm not that young...got out of college in 2000. The tobacco abortionist's only see tobacco...not the way it is associated or who is buying it for what reason. The anti-tobacco lobby-ists don't know the difference between an Opus X and a Phillie's...they only know that there are a lot of really shady company's that market to teens because they know they can sell them a product used for "OTHER" reasons.

-Fetter
 
I don't think anyone on here really wants to argue that kids actually make a choice to smoke, as minors, we recognize that they may not have all their most mature deciding skills (those magically appear at 18, and again at 21), and thusly, cannot really decide to commit themselves to an addictive substance. That said, those Truth ads are obnoxious, you'd think there'd be a better way to get at not smoking than the whole people vs. the evil corporation gig, it's tired and old. As someone pointed out, tobacco companies only market just as other companies do, they just sell an addictive product that is illegal for teens to buy, so, theoretically they shouldn't be able to market to the under 18. And I honestly don't think they do anymore, I just think that the marketing techniques for let's say an 18 and 17 yr old (one who can legally decide to purchase tobacco and one who cannot) are exactly the same. So, it's easy to say that tobacco companies, alcohol companies, firearms companies, etc do market to minors, they have to, unless they only market to granddad. Another good example of a company who inadvertedly (or probably very intentionally) markets to kids is the Armed Forces (and recently, the Border Patrol, but I'm convinced that's an elaborate spoof - Join the Border Patrol?).


That said, smoking does entail a huge risk, it's pompous to deny it. But, everything entails a risk. Drive your cars, cross your streets, go outside in a thunderstorm, and smoke your cigars (but, alas, not in a thunderstorm) - just don't ever tell anyone or even put on that smoking is just another decision to make. In the meantime, we should all write letters, Avo looks too much like everyone's favorite grand-dad, and if that doesn't market to 6 yr olds, the prime cigar smoking market, I don't know what does.
 
Look up that Truth program. You will find that big tobacco pays for those ads! It's part of their deal with the goverment. I cringe everytime I see one of those fuc!ing things!
 
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