  |
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||
|
Novel Tobacco Products Novel tobacco products (NTPs) are thought of as "training wheel" cigarettes because they often appeal to kids. NTPs can lead to a lifetime of smoking addiction and health problems. Almost as many teens use novel tobacco products as use smokeless tobacco. Many people believe that NTPs aren't as harmful as standard cigarettes. However, in many ways, they're even more dangerous. To make matters worse, illegal sales rates of NTPs to minors are higher than those for standard cigarettes. On StoreAlert.org, we will focus on three kinds of NTPs: Bidis, Clove cigarettes and Flavored tobacco cigarettes. |
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
Bidis (or beedies) are hand-rolled cigarettes from India. They are a blend of tobacco and herbs, wrapped with a green leaf and tied with a string. Bidis are appealing to kids because of their sweet, candy-like flavors. They're also less expensive than standard cigarettes and are often packaged in brightly colored cone-shaped wrapping. Many kids believe that bidis are safer than cigarettes, but bidis are addictive and can cause cancer. They contain three times as much nicotine and five times as much tar as standard cigarettes. The 1999 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that 2.4% of middle school students and 5.0% of high school students used bidis. 
Clove cigarettes (or kreteks) are made in Indonesia and contain a mixture of tobacco and cloves. Kreteks look like ordinary cigarettes, and most are made with white paper, some with brown paper and a few with black paper. Again, kreteks come in colorful eye-catching packaging that appeals to kids. Clove cigarettes can cause lung damage and even death. A few states have already outlawed them. The 1999 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that 1.9% of middle schoolers and 5.8% of high schoolers used kreteks.
Flavored tobacco products appeal to kids because of their sweet flavoring and packaging that suggests candy boxes. Sweet Dreams and Liquid Zoo are popular brands of flavored cigarettes. Camel recently launched a line of flavored cigarettes called "Exotic Blends."