Flavoured Tobacco A Sweet Temptation

Source from:  Kitchener-Waterloo (ONT) Record 03/19/2009

They come in mint, chocolate and strawberry -- and carry a serious health risk. Flavoured tobacco products are the newest fad for teens, say local anti-tobacco groups. "They have a very high 'try me' appeal," said Matthew Lee, a member of a youth-run anti-smoking organization based in Cambridge called Youth Acting for Change on Tobacco. Cigarillos, or little cigars, are sold in flavours that mimic candy, fruit or ice cream. They come in colourful packages that resemble lip gloss or markers and are individually sold for $1.50. "We have seen a drastic increase in the number of cigarillos sold," said Lee, an 18-year-old student at Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute in Kitchener. Health Canada figures show that unit sales of cigarillos skyrocketed to more than 80 million units in 2006 from just 50,000 units five years earlier. Lee said cigarillos are rolls of tobacco wrapped in tobacco leaf and are considered as addictive as cigarettes. Smoking these products increases the risk of certain cancers. Health warnings on cigarillos are much less prominent than those on cigarette packages and there are no health warnings at all on individually packaged cigarillos, he said. Last week, Waterloo regional council passed a resolution calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to follow through on a 2008 election promise to ban flavoured tobacco products. In Ontario, legislation banning flavoured tobacco products is awaiting proclamation before it becomes law. But a federal private member's bill introduced in the House of Commons died when the government fell last fall. The local resolution was presented by Lee's group, and a similar organization called Toxik based in Kitchener-Waterloo. Another tobacco product that is enjoying a resurgence, especially with school-aged athletes playing baseball and hockey, is chewing tobacco which is sold in "pucks," tins and in "logs" of seven tins at a cost of $6 each. Five years ago, Lee had a part-time job at the Ice Park, a recreational facility in Cambridge. One of his jobs was to clean the dressing room floors. Three years later, he was washing the floors twice in a shift because of the amount of spit on the floor from chewing tobacco. A 2006-07 youth smoking survey, done by the University of Waterloo, found that 35 per cent of Grade 10 to 12 students reported having tried cigarillos. This survey of 71,000 students in Grades 5 to 12 from across Canada also found that 48 per cent of Grade 10 to 12 students had tried cigarettes and 11 per cent were classified as current smokers. Among students in Grade 5 to 9, 18.5 per cent had tried cigarette smoking and two per cent were smokers. Steve Manske of the Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation at the University of Waterloo, who co-ordinated the Health Canada-sponsored survey, said the rate of tobacco use among Canadian youth has been declining for years, but seems to have flatlined with the introduction of cigarillos. Manske said that tobacco companies need to replace smokers who have either quit or died, "and the only place they can do that is with the youth. "These flavoured cigarillos are an entry point for kids," Manske said in an interview. And despite new provincial legislation that curbs the sale of tobacco products to minors, Manske said more than a third of Grade 10 to 12 students who reported trying cigarillos had purchased them from stores. "My sense is that they are readily available" in the region, Manske said. Marty Sawdon, regional licensing administrator, said the region has laid two charges against stores that illegally sold cigarillos to minors. The charges were laid in 2006 and 2007 and the fines were paid. He said local enforcement has stepped up because of teen popularity with this tobacco product. "There is no question it is aimed at the young people. I don't know many adults who would smoke cherry-flavoured cigarettes," Sawdon said. Enditem