CDC: More teens smoking flavored tobacco

cnn ^ | October 24, 2013 | Jen Christensen

[Drango]

(CNN) -- Use of tobacco in flavors like Dreamsicle and chocolate mint may be a growing problem among teenagers, according to a Centers for Disease Control report.

More than two out of every five middle- and high-school students who smoke report using flavored little cigars or flavored cigarettes, according to the report. And the bigger concern may be that the majority of the kids who smoke the flavored cigars -- some 60% -- say they don't plan to quit anytime soon (compared to 49% of all cigar smokers).

~

"Historically what we know from other studies is that flavors can mask the harshness and taste of tobacco, particularly for a new person who has not smoked regularly and finds it difficult to handle," said the CDC's Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the Office on Smoking and Health. "Flavoring makes it easier to use and more appealing to youth."

Cigars have become increasingly popular in the last couple of decades. Sales were up 240% from 1997 to 2007, according to the CDC. Flavored cigars account for 80% of those sales.

~

The problem is, studies show, kids' experimentation with tobacco often turns into a lifelong habit. Some 88% of adults who smoke say they started smoking by the age of 18, according to the CDC.

~ The little cigars are really "kissing cousins" to cigarettes, McAfee said, and they resemble cigarettes when sold in a pack. They are similar in size and shape and have filters like cigarettes.

The difference is little cigars are wrapped in leaf tobacco or another tobacco product. Cigarettes are wrapped in paper or some other non-tobacco substance.

~

[MeshugeMikey]

People here by and large have so many issues they NEED to work them out on whoever they may find offensive...

Marin County is PROOF that one cant buy brains or maturity.

when one has everything one can buy...and isnt satisfied one need look no further that the Detestable..habits..of others and one can then achieve SUpreme Smugness ...i guess.

this county votes 9o percent democrat. Id leave but my family is here.

[mylife]

Maybe we should ban sex eh?

[yarddog]

I hate the smell of cigarette tobacco. I worked in an office which had two women who smoked and I stayed out in the field as much as I could just to get away from that smoke. I finally developed a mild allergy to it.

My wife could always smell it on my clothes if I had to work in the office any day.

On the other hand, I had a great uncle who smoked a pipe. Uncle Albert smoked some type of tobacco which had a pleasant aroma. It didn’t bother me a bit.

BTW, he just barely made it to 100. I think he died something like a week after he turned the century mark.

[Elyse]

My concern is for people that don’t take responsibility for their own children.
I don’t think the village is supposed to be raising those children. We have laws that make it illegal for children and we have parents that should be taking responsibility for those children. Your solution is ass backwards and penalizes adults who aren’t standing in back alleys handing flavored cigarettes to those kids.

[Drango]

See # 4

[JRandomFreeper]

You are a liberal. And no, the smoking war isn't over, it's just moved to different ground, where liberals like you don't get the taxes from it.

/johnny

[mplsconservative]

Smokers are retarded. The smoking wars are over. Deal with it. And stop addicting children.

I'll bet you find the idea of personal freedom 'retarded' too. Just another nanny-state name caller. Jay Carney, is that you?

[NautiNurse]

I don't smoke. I do know that your home state of California had spent the $Billions of tobacco company settlement annuity on most everything but anti-smoking campaigns and smoking cessation programs. In fact, California has already borrowed against and spent future settlement payments it will never receive if the tobacco companies are shuttered.

Do you really think California can afford to lose tobacco revenue?

[mylife]

Nanny’s like Drango would have us all living in safe little bubbles where we could smugly sniff our own farts.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s10e02-smug-alert

[cripplecreek]

My concern is for people that don’t take responsibility for their own children.

Exactly. People who think they're doing good by forcing others to do the same "Good" are liberals buying into the collective salvation lie. Its the same selfish thinking that leads liberals to think Obamacare is good. They claim its for the poor when all its really about is making themselves feel superior.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

NEWS FLASH!!!!

Kids are smoking blunts with weed in them

[lee martell]

Those are healthy looking plants. They almost appear Tropical. Do you have to handle these while wearing gloves to reduce nicotine absorbption?

[Cementjungle]

Then they wonder why other conservative march into voting booths and vote to restrict tobacco.

We have restrictions on tobacco.

If you're concerned about your kids, then sit them down and discuss it with them. Tell them your concerns, and if they trust you they might just do what you want them to do.

[JRandomFreeper]

No, I revel in it, knowing that it's making some liberal nanny stater crazy. ;)

/johnny

[DJ MacWoW]

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for
the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.
It would be better to live under robber barons than under
omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty
may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be
satiated; but those who torment us for our own good
will torment us without end for they do so with the
approval of their own conscience.
C S Lewis

President Spiteful Is An Example

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[TaxPayer2000]

Many a FReeper turn a blind eye to child addiction.

Not many a FReeper post an article just to start a fight with "many a FReeper". I suspect your problems with "many a FReeper" are not limited to just this one topic....

[lee martell]

The article used the phrase “Kissing Cousins”, last time I heard that term was on the dance show Hootenanny, which the family used to watch right after Petticoat Junction.

[JRandomFreeper]

This thread did one good thing. Someone contacted me on Freepmail for information on growing tobacco. I keep spreading the word... ;)

/johnny

[mylife]

Everyone knows, that only incestuous, toothless, redneck rubes, use tobacco.

[cripplecreek]

Funny thing was that Albert Einstein’s second wife was his cousin.