Feature Article

Cigar use among teenagers is increasing nationally and in Ohio. A recent Cuyahoga County survey found that more teens smoked cigars than cigarettes, and the 2004 New Jersey Youth Tobacco Survey found that the same was true of high school boys in that state. Overall, the cigar industry is booming; U.S. sales more than doubled between 1993 and 2004.

One possible explanation is that cigar producers have engineered their products to make them more appealing to youth. Cigars now come sugar-tipped and in flavors such as chocolate, cinnamon, and amaretto. In addition, cigars can be cheaper to purchase than cigarettes. Single cigars can be purchased for less than a dollar, while cigarettes must be sold in a pack for two dollars or more.

Some attribute the rise of teen cigar use to increased visibility of cigars in the media. Celebrities adorn the covers of cigar-promoting magazines, and ads glamorizing cigar use increasingly depict women and minorities. Teens may also think that smoking cigars is safer than cigarettes. However, cigar smoke has all of the same toxic elements found in cigarette smoke. Smoking cigars can lead to lung cancer, oral and pharyngeal cancers, and esophageal cancer.

In addition, legislative and law enforcement decisions have, in some cases, made cigars more attractive to teenagers than cigarettes. For example, Ohio and several other states tax cigars at a much lower rate than cigarettes. In addition, a national study showed that local officials give a lower priority to enforcing unlawful cigar sales to minors compared to unlawful cigarette sales.

To decrease youth tobacco use, legislators should focus on extending tobacco control legislation to include cigars. Priority areas include limiting point-of-sale access and raising the price of cigars.

Limit Point-of-Sale Access

Legislators need to make it as difficult as possible for underage youth to get their hands on cigars. Cigars are readily accessible in retail stores in self-service displays, many of which are surrounded by eye-catching advertisements. To reduce illegal sales to youth, legislation should eliminate self-service displays and require clerk intervention for all sales of tobacco products. (Most retailers already require such intervention for cigarette sales.) Several states already have laws prohibiting self-service displays of all tobacco products, and this type of regulation was upheld by the Supreme Court in Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Massachusetts, 533 U.S. 525 (2001). Ohio currently has no such legislation.

Increase the Cigar Tax

Raising the price of tobacco products has been shown to be effective in reducing youth tobacco use. Right now, Ohio's tax on cigars is 17% of the wholesale price, while the tax on cigarettes is approximately 56% of the wholesale price ($1.25 per pack). Likewise, the federal excise tax for cigarettes is about 3.5 times higher than it is for cigars. There should be no difference between the taxation rates of cigars and cigarettes. Moreover, Ohio should require cigars to be sold in packs, just as it requires for cigarettes. This way, teens will not be able to purchase cigars with the change found in their couch cushions. Once the differential between cigar and cigarette prices is eliminated, it is likely that teen cigar use will decline.

A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health concluded that "policymakers have a significant opportunity to reduce the prevalence of youth cigar smoking by raising the federal and state excise taxes." There is no excuse for not taking this action as soon as possible.