Cigarettes and Tobacco News

Jan 9, 2007 -- Candy-tipped cigars pose same health risks as cigarettes. In many convenience stores across Cape Breton, candy-tipped cigars are discreetly displayed as a cool and inexpensive alternative to cigarettes.

With a dozen flavours, from cherry to chocolate mint, many people have an overwhelming urge to try them all.

For Daniel, a 17-year-old high school student who didn’t want his last name used, the tasty temptations were too much. He started smoking Prime Time cigarillos with his friends last year.

“Everyone does it,” he said. “They’re less expensive and not as bad for you as cigarettes.”

In Canada, cigars are governed by the same laws that control the sale of cigarettes. You must be 19 to purchase tobacco products. This doesn’t stop Daniel, who says he rarely has trouble getting his hands on them.

“There’s always someone willing to do it, an older brother, sister or friend. It’s not that big of a deal.”

And Daniel is convinced he isn’t addicted.

“I just like trying the different flavours. They’re cheap and I only smoke on the weekends. I can quit any time.”

It’s an alarming trend for Cynthia Callard, executive director with Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada in Ottawa. She said tobacco companies take advantage of legal loopholes, calling it inappropriate marketing.

Canadian law requires cigarettes to be sold in packages of no less than 20 and a warning label must be clearly visible on the pack. Cigars are exempt from those laws because they are often more expensive.

That’s where Prime Time takes advantage, Callard said.

“Prime Times are like a hybrid between a cigarette and a cigar. People smoke them like cigarettes, so they pose the same health risks, but they’re allowed to sell them individually.”

The colourful packaging, dessert-like quality and lower price make them a popular alternative for young people, she said.

“They have the attractiveness of a novelty item. Young people smoke them to show off an adult image. They also appeal to people who’ve given up smoking but who still want to play around with it. Also, having so many flavours teases the mind.Do I like chocolate? Do I like vanilla? It’s an incentive to try them all.”

U.S.A. Tobacco, the Phoenix, Ariz.-based manufacturer of Prime Time, didn’t immediately return phone calls.

Jarrod Yeo is a second-year student at Holland College in Charlottetown, P.E.I., on a work term at the Cape Breton Post.