In 2000, 23 percent of Maryland high school students younger than 18 reported smoking cigarettes in the previous 30 days, compared with 12.5 percent for cigars, the data show. By 2010, the percentage smoking cigarettes fell to 14.1 percent, and the percentage smoking cigars rose to 13.9 percent. In other words, officials said, almost as many youth smoke cigars as smoke cigarettes.
Nationally, cigar smoking is the second-most-common form of tobacco use among youth, after cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 14 percent of high school students smoke cigars (18.6 percent among boys; 8.8 percent among girls), according to 2009 CDC data.
But in some states, cigar smoking among some youth groups is more popular than cigarette smoking. In Massachusetts, 18 percent of high school boys smoke cigarettes, but 22 percent smoke cigars, according to 2009 CDC data. A study in Ohio found cigars to be the most popular tobacco product among high school students. In New Jersey, researchers found cigarette use dropped by 29 percent between 2001 and 2004, but for the first time ever, more high school boys reported smoking cigars (17.2 percent) than cigarettes (15.9 percent).
Experts say most states have considerably lower taxes on cigars than on cigarettes. The rise in youth cigar use in New Jersey occurred during a period when the state increased cigarette excise tax three times while the tax on other tobacco products was cut in 2002 from 48 percent to 30 percent, according to researchers at the School of Public Health at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
The larger issue, according to Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, “is real concern that tobacco manufacturers are using little cigars to undermine the impact of the federal ban on flavored cigarettes.”
The Cigar Association of America, which represents major cigar manufacturers, said in a statement that its members sell a legal product for adults, advocate against youth usage and have used flavors for more than 100 years. The state health campaign, it said, “unfairly maligns an industry that provides jobs and generates tax revenue in Maryland.”
Staff writers Timothy Wilson and Tim Smith contributed to this report.
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