Teenagers Taking Up Cigar Smoking Survey Says Fourth Of Teens Smoked Stogie In Past Year

Cigars, made chic these days by Hollywood stars and supermodels, are catching on among teenagers.

To the government’s dismay, more than a quarter of American teenagers have smoked a stogie in the past year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.

The survey marked the first time the health agency has tried to gauge cigar smoking among teen-agers.

“It’s a phenomenon of the ‘90s,” said Michael Eriksen, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “Everywhere you turn, there’s a cigar bar or a cigar shop. Kids are very perceptive of what they think cool adults do.”

The 1996 survey found that 26.7 percent of 16,417 youngsters ages 14 to 19 had puffed on a cigar within the past year. Nationwide, that works out to an estimated 6 million teens, the CDC said.

It found that 37 percent of young men had smoked a cigar, compared with 16 percent of young women.

Cigars have more tar and nicotine than cigarettes do - as much as 40 times more, for a big stogie, the CDC said.

Some people apparently believe cigars are safer than cigarettes because cigar smokers often do not inhale. But cigars raise the risk of mouth cancer, the CDC said.

Cigars used to be the choice of older men. But the trend is catching on among younger men and women, and celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Demi Moore, Vanessa Williams and even Michael Jordan have been seen chomping on a cigar.

“You see Michael Jordan on the cover of Sports Illustrated with a cigar in his mouth. What kind of message does that send to youths?” asked Ron Todd, director of tobacco control for the American Cancer Society.

Audrey Guskey, an advertising expert who teaches at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, said advertisers promote the trend as if it were risk-free.

“It’s almost as if the health risks aren’t there,” she said. “I have seen an increase in promotion particularly toward women. Women never smoked cigars before.”

Norman Sharp, president of the Cigar Association of America, said the industry discourages cigar smoking among teenagers.

“Cigar smoking is an adult custom,” he said.