US: Smokeless Tobacco Use up among Young People

Source from:  Wicked Local‎  11/15/2012

While the number of young people smoking cigarettes has dropped significantly, those who use smokeless tobacco products is on the rise largely because it is cheaper and not taxed as much, according to a report from the Massachusetts Health Council released Tuesday.

Council members said the use of chewable tobacco, small flavored cigars, and other tobacco flavored products has surpassed cigarette smoking in the state. Every time the Legislature ups the taxes on cigarettes, consumption drops, according to Stephen Shestakofsky, executive director of Tobacco Free Massachusetts.

That is not the case with non-cigarette, smokeless products, he said. "Kids can't afford cigarettes anymore as they once could, but they can afford these products" Shestakofsky told lawmakers and health policy makers gathered in the Great Hall for the release of the council's 2012 report "Common Health for the Commonwealth." Individual flavored cigars cost around $1 and smokeless products ring up around $3, while cigarettes average $7 a pack in Massachusetts.

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the state, with 9,000 residents dying each year from its effects, according to the report. Health council officials reiterated their call for lawmakers to increase taxes on non-cigarette products, saying they would work with legislators during the 2013 session to push it.