Big Taxes Don't Touch Little Cigars

The company reported that Black & Mild sales increased 8 percent in the first quarter this year.

Public health advocates have called increasing attention to the use of cigars among young people, particularly their use of machine-rolled cigarillos and little cigars with sweet or exotic flavorings. One 7-Eleven in Woodbridge had a vivid array on display, including peach-flavored White Owls in bright, crinkly orange paper and Dutch Masters cigars with a hint of grape in a purple wrap.

Eddie Feeks, 18, said he was a 15-year-old student at Vienna's Madison High School when he tried smoking for the first time. Despite his misgivings, he decided to try one of his friends' cigars.

"I didn't inhale it the first time," Feeks said. "Then the second time I tried to inhale it, and it, like, punched me in the throat. . . . I waited until I was done coughing five minutes later, and then I kept smoking."

In front of Jammin' Java in Vienna on a recent day, Feeks was smoking Marlboros with friends, including two 17-year-old girls. They said that price drives their choices as much as taste. Most of their friends who smoke prefer Marlboros, regular or menthol, they said, but mass-market, machine-rolled cigars are popular, too.

"Swisher Sweets -- I used to smoke those a lot," Feeks said. "Like, special occasions -- at the beach or something."

Jesse Roush, 18, who works at the cafe, said his first smoke was a DjarumBlack clove cigarette with friends when he was 14. "I decided I would try it and get it out of the way, so I could prove that I didn't like it. So I tried it, and I ended up liking it," Roush, of Vienna, said. "They were like fancy cigarettes that tasted like candy."

Now he smokes Marlboro Reds.

Tobacco makers deny any attempt to reach children. "Our look at it is, first and foremost, all of Altria's products are designed only for adults," said David Sutton, a spokesman for the company. "We don't want kids to use any type of tobacco product. Period."

Sutton said the firm has joined other tobacco companies in promoting training, financial incentives for retailers and other steps such as the We Card program, which trains retailers to sell only to adults.

Industry officials also deny that flavored tobaccos are designed for children.

"Any time there's an issue of flavorings, it's always assumed to be a marketing at kids. I don't buy that," Norman Sharp, president of the Cigar Association, said. "The fact is, flavorings go back to the 1500s." In the Netherlands in the 1600s people smoked tobacco flavored with lavender, rosemary, nutmeg and coriander, Sharp said.

Comments: kunklef@washpost.com.