This summer, cigarillos were briefly pulled off store shelves in Canada. This ban was politically motivated, as the anti-smoking lobby feel that flavored cigarillos are marketed directly at minors.
As a way to target cigarillos, the law banned filtered tobacco products weighing less than 1.4 grams. The popular cigarillo brand Prime Time quickly responded by repackaging their product in units heavier than 1.4 grams, replacing the filter with compressed tobacco, and changing the label from “cigarillo” to “cigar”. Needless to say, the anti-tobacco lobby, who thought they scored a big win against smoking, felt burned and are pushing for a new ban that is free of such “loopholes”.
But what sense is there in targeting cigarillos? The lobby thinks that the novelty will attract more new smokers, especially minors. I don't think the lobby understands why young people smoke in the first place. For an interesting discussion on why the young smoke, read Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" where he argues that the types of kids who are cool are "innovator" types that start trends in any demographic. And these innovators are drawn to cigarettes as a symbol of rebellion and a symbol of becoming an adult. Other kids see the cool kids smoking, and it starts catching on.
In fighting to ban cigarillos, I personally think the anti-smoking lobby are missing out on a great compromise. Cigarillos support casual smoking, which could help thousands of smokers reduce the amount they smoke.
I have thus laid out an argument against the idea that cigarillos are encouraging children to smoke more, that cigarillos could help children and adults reduce there smoking to a "casual" level that is much harder to achieve when buying cigarettes, and then I will share my experience as a "casual" smoker who saw his own smoking habits get out of control and then choose to quit, while also refusing to become one of those obnoxious non-smokers who seem omnipresent these days.
But what sense is there in targeting cigarillos? The lobby thinks that the novelty will attract more new smokers, especially minors. I don't think the lobby understands why young people smoke in the first place. For an interesting discussion on why the young smoke, read Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" where he argues that the types of kids who are cool are "innovator" types that start trends in any demographic. And these innovators are drawn to cigarettes as a symbol of rebellion and a symbol of becoming an adult. Other kids see the cool kids smoking, and it starts catching on.
In fighting to ban cigarillos, I personally think the anti-smoking lobby are missing out on a great compromise. Cigarillos support casual smoking, which could help thousands of smokers reduce the amount they smoke.
I have thus laid out an argument against the idea that cigarillos are encouraging children to smoke more, that cigarillos could help children and adults reduce there smoking to a "casual" level that is much harder to achieve when buying cigarettes, and then I will share my experience as a "casual" smoker who saw his own smoking habits get out of control and then choose to quit, while also refusing to become one of those obnoxious non-smokers who seem omnipresent these days.
Are cigarillos bad for children?
As far as public heath goes, having less people smoking is a very good thing. And from a health and legal standpoint, having less children smoking is even better. So it goes without saying that encouraging less children to smoke, and inhibiting their access to tobacco, is a very good thing.
However, children do smoke. Now some of them are smoking cigarillos, and at a greater ratio than adults. But what does that mean? Does it mean that cigarillos can entice more minors into smoking? Or does the popularity of cigarillos with minors mean that minors smoke more casually than their two-pack a day adult counterparts? We need studies to help decide whether more children are smoking because of the enticement of flavored, attractive, cheaper cigarillos or whether children who would be smoking cigarettes are now smoking fewer cigarettes in favor of cigarillos.
The argument is made that impressionable minors smoke cigarillos because the packaging has less heath warnings, looks cool, and the availability of flavors give the product a “try-me” quality. These arguments have a certain merit. Personally, the packaging and flavoring of Prime Time cigarillos helped enticed me to try them as an adult.
However, I am weary of blindly considering children as ignorant sheep who will try anything in a cool package, especially when the “children” in these surveys are aged 15-19. Minors deserve a little more credit than they sometimes receive. As George Carlin puts it, in his comedy routine, “children don’t smoke because a camel in sunglasses tells them to [in reference to Camel cigarettes]; children smoke for the same reasons adults do: it relieves anxiety and stress”. The point being, smoking tobacco has always had an attractiveness beyond cute marketing ideas. Unless one is willing to recognize those deeper, more universal features of cigarette smoking, they will never understand what entices people to try tobacco for the first time.
Why smoke cigarillos?
I like cigarillos because I like to think that there is such a thing as casual smoking. People who smoke cigarettes tend to smoke a lot of cigarettes. This is less true for cigarillo smoking. If used smartly, cigarillo smoking can help a smoker limit the amount they smoke and truly keep it at a more casual level, whether that is a few per day, per week, per month, or per year. For me, it’s a few per month on average, though I skip most months.
As a person who was, for about 18 months, an admitted smoker, I have a few insights as I was first an avid non-smoker, then a smoker, and now a non-smoker. First of all, my friends and I liked to joke that a person never becomes a smoker simply by trying a cigarette or “bumming draws” off other people (in other words, finishing other people’s cigarettes). We’d say that someone officially became a smoker when they bought their first pack.
Likewise, most of my friends have tried smoking casually.Some of those friends are now non-smokers, some are smokers. But all of them had intended only on smoking casually.Most of those friends, and myself included, have stories about when they’ve been drinking and have wanted to have a casual smoke.
Many people find tobacco and alcohol use go very well together, and many people try to limit themselves to smoking only when they’re drinking. Yet cigarettes only come in packs of 20 or 25, and most people can not and do not want to smoke that many cigarettes in a night. So they find themselves then stuck with a half-pack of smokes the next day. Soon enough, boredom or stress creeps in and that person remembers that they still have cigarettes that are just going to waste. Most often, those leftover cigarettes get smoked and that helps push casual smokers into being full-time smokers.
Many people find tobacco and alcohol use go very well together, and many people try to limit themselves to smoking only when they’re drinking. Yet cigarettes only come in packs of 20 or 25, and most people can not and do not want to smoke that many cigarettes in a night. So they find themselves then stuck with a half-pack of smokes the next day. Soon enough, boredom or stress creeps in and that person remembers that they still have cigarettes that are just going to waste. Most often, those leftover cigarettes get smoked and that helps push casual smokers into being full-time smokers.
Thus, for the casual smoker, being able to buy a “kiddie” pack of cigarillos is actually a very responsible and reasonable thing to do. It is unreasonable for any casual smoker to be forced to buy 20+ cigarettes or a huge cigar that the majority of the smoking population simply can not handle.
I understand if non-smokers disagree with the “causal smoking” distinction. As an addictive substance, tobacco use encourages people to sometimes fool themselves. A person who considers themselves “quit” can fool themselves into thinking a puff every now and again isn’t cheating. A person who only buys a pack every so often can pretend that they aren’t addicted. But then again, who is to say what distinguishes someone liking something and someone being addicted? It is a blurry line, and there are certainly smokers on both sides of it. There are official smokers who think they’re casual, but there are definitely casual smokers who non-smokers see as addicted zombies.
My Experience in quitting cigarettes and becoming a casual smoker
My Experience in quitting cigarettes and becoming a casual smoker
I myself quit smoking over 4 years ago. Yet I consider myself a casual smoker. Some people would say then I haven’t quit at all. So what do I mean by “quit” and “casual smoker” when it concerns my own personal experience?
Well, first of all, my number one condition of quitting was that I would never have another puff of a cigarette again. Not being from a culture that smokes many cigars, I equate cigarette smoking with being an addicted, official smoker. Some people smoke cigarettes sometimes and claim to be a casual smoker. That’s fine. I buy that argument sometimes, but not often. For me, smoking a cigar or cigarillo every now and again is the more credible and secure form of being a casual smoker.
When I first quit, I had actually only intended on quitting temporarily. I really liked smoking. I can still list many things I like about it. But I had become a little worried about being addicted. I had always just wanted to be a casual smoker, but I noticed I had been steadily purchasing more and more cigarettes. Before I quit, I was buying 2 packs every 3 days. So I quit, cold turkey, on a trial basis.
Once I started missing cigarettes, I started smoking Prime Times. At first, it was tough. My roommate was a smoker and would often put tobacco into joints we would smoke together. So although I wasn’t smoking cigarettes, my body was still getting small doses of nicotine and it seemed to be driving my cravings through the roof. I was fighting to keep myself to two Prime Times per day. I managed, but just barely.
Soon enough, once I moved into a new place and my cravings started to die down, I stopped smoking so many Prime Times. I’d have a few sometimes when at a party where many of my friends would be smoking, but I’d also go days and weeks without a single one. I also decided that picking up cigarettes again, even at a casual pace, was probably not a good idea. I had quit cold turkey, the cravings had died away, and it was definitely better for my health if I just gave them up permanently.
Prime Times helped me through my quitting period. It is also a great way for me to indulge from time to time in an activity I truly enjoy, like drinking wine or eating chocolate. I have gone months with Prime Times in my possession without ever having one, and truly do not feel any craving at all. But I still like to know that I can casually enjoy one from time to time. And I especially like to know that I can enjoy a single Prime Time without being stuck with 19 more, waiting to be smoked. Banning “kiddie” packs dangerously tempts causal smokers into smoking more. I know from buying tubs of ice cream that, when it’s there, I tend to eat a lot more than I feel comfortable with. It just calls to you. Fortunately (maybe) the call of Mint Chocolate ice cream in my fridge is much stronger than the call of the single Cherry Prime Time that’s been in my room for four days already.
The following argument is based upon a summary report by a Canadian Anti-Tobacco lobby group and my own experiences as a former smoker and current casual cigarillo smoker.
The summary report:
Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada
Backgrounder: Cigarillo smoking in Canada
What I agree with:
- Packages need to follow the conventions of the World Health Organization’s “Framework Convention on Tobacco Control” requirement that at least 30% of the package has a health advertisement.
- Cigarillo’s are more attractive to kids than cigarettes.
What I disagree with:
- Cigarillos are a kiddy product.
o This is too rash a judgment to make
o Minors may smoke a higher cigarillo-to-cigarette ratio than adults, but this could be a good thing.
o What needs to be answered is: Are minors smoking a greater quantity of tobacco because of cigarillos? Are more minors becoming smokers because of cigarillos?
o OR are cigarillos a way for smoking minors to smoke casually without having to buy a full pack of cigarettes?
- Cigarillos should be sold in larger packages in order to make a purchase more expensive and thus less attractive to minors
o This is unfair to the poor and to casual smokers
o This encourages ANYONE who wants a single cigarillo to smoke more because they are forced to purchase more tobacco than they actually want
o IDing practices should prevent any child from purchasing tobacco, not package size
o Minors (especially aged 15-19) have money!
