Tobacco Comes in Several Types, Flavors

Source from:  media.www.dailynebraskan.com Alissa Skelton 1/16/08 01/17/2008

On a warm Friday night in front of Abel Hall, students gather in a circle as smoke and laughter escapes from the center of their circle. Students passing the dormitory on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln usually wonder what the group is doing. Melisa Marchitelli, a freshman political science major, is usually among the circle of friends smoking flavored tobacco out of sophomore Andy Tippett's hookah. "Everybody always has fun around the hookah," Marchitelli said. "A hookah doesn't taste like what you would normally think tobacco tastes like." Marchitelli said the tobacco she smokes out of the hookah just tastes flavorful and not like tobacco at all. "I've tried cigarettes and I've tried cigars but the hookah is my favorite," Marchitelli said. Besides inhaling a hookah, there are many other ways to smoke tobacco - traditional cigarettes, hand-rolled cigarettes, cigars and pipes. Located in downtown Lincoln, Jake's Cigars & Spirits, 114 N. 14th St., has an assortment of all of these types of tobaccos except for hookah tobacco. Maurice Shinall has been an employee of Jake's Cigars for more than two years and has tried almost all of the products. Jake's sells many types of cigarettes ranging from traditional cigarettes to imported cigarettes. Shinall said the clove cigarettes, or Blacks, are popular among college students. The imported cigarettes come from Germany, London and Canada. Shinall's favorite cigarettes are the German ones. American Spirit and Bali Shag are the two types of rolled cigarettes, and Shinall prefers the Bali Shag. "Canadian cigarettes are a little bit harder smoking wise and are scary," Shinall said, laughing. "I usually stay away from those." Jake's also has pipe tobacco. Shinall said the best tobacco flavors they carry for pipes are Mellow Peach and Aromatic English (a darker tobacco). "We don't sell a lot of pipe tobacco, but we do have a base for it," Shinall said. "Older people usually like the Aromatic English." Jake's is known for their cigars. They have a separate room just for the cigars. Upon opening the door to the cigar room, the flavor of the stogies can almost be tasted. "We have a massive assortment of different cigars," Shinall said. The cigars are imported from Honduras, Ecuador, Tuscany, Nicaragua, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The majority of the cigars are from the Dominican Republic. Shinall said most college students buy Punchy, Cojmar and Acid cigars. Regardless of the type, there are health risks. According to the American Cancer Society, using tobacco can cause multiple types of cancer. Lung disease, heart attacks or strokes also are side effects of using tobacco. Mike Lefler, American Cancer Society regional communications director of Nebraska, said after a person quits using tobacco for a year, he can regain a somewhat healthy lifestyle. The American Cancer Society provides counseling and ways to help people quit. Other alternative options are to use nicotine patches or gums. "Whatever it takes to help someone quit smoking is a good thing," Lefler said. "The longer you smoke the more chance you are going to have health problems down the road." Anyone interested in kicking the habit can call 1-800-QUIT-NOW for more information. Enditem