JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Health advocates are urging the FDA to finalize a rule that would prohibit flavored cigars as a new report raises concerns about cigar use among children, especially Black youth.
The “Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids” partnered with Rutgers University in doing research that led to the new report, which says the marketing for flavored cigars is a threat to children because they’re packaged to look like candy and they’re cheap and easier to buy.
According to the report, more than half a million young people are currently smoking cigars, and every day, more than 800 children smoke for the first time.
Black youth smoke more than any other group. The report says Black high school students smoke cigars at one and a half times the rate of white high schoolers.
Dennis Henigan, the vice president of legal and regulatory affairs with the campaign, said the government has a responsibility to crack down on the sale of flavored cigars.
“Every day that passes, more kids are trying these products, getting addicted to these products, and the nicotine in these products is very harmful to the developing adolescent brain,” Henigan said. “What experience shows us is that it is simply not enough to have rules that say, ‘Oh, you can’t sell a tobacco product to anyone under a certain age.’ Those age restrictions are absolutely essential, but they are not enough.”
Henigan said marketing plays a key role in convincing kids to smoke in three different ways: through social media trends, social media influencers, including celebrities marketing the products and by sponsoring music concerts that attract young people.
“We very much hope that the agency moves with a sense of urgency about this,” Henigan said. “For way too long, the industry has been allowed to prey upon young people with these products, and particularly young people and communities of color. They cannot be allowed to continue.”
The new report comes as the FDA considers a rule prohibiting flavored cigars.
It was first announced in April 2022, citing evidence that suggests cigar use poses serious health risks, including causing different cancers, heart disease and stroke.
The report says smoking those cigars can eventually damage the brain and cause memory loss and affect concentration.
“We have to prevent this generation of kids from becoming hooked on these products and suffering those terrible health consequences now and later on,” Henigan said.
The FDA could finalize the rule by the end of this year.
The campaign says most young people who have smoked cigars say it started with a flavored cigar. Flavors, except for menthol, are already prohibited in cigarettes. The FDA is considering a ban on that flavor as well.