| UICC GLOBALink Presents... |
|
The Tobacco Reference Guide |
| by David Moyer, MD. |
| | Chapter 15 Children and teen smoking |
| | tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour |
| | Children and teen smoking: Bidis |
| | globalink (artefact pour saut de ligne) |
| | Bidis imported from India are the latest smoking fad with teens. They have higher |
| | levels of tar, carbon monoxide, and nicotine than regular cigarettes, and pose greater |
| | risks for throat, mouth and lung cancer. Because of their sweet aroma and low price, |
| | public health experts have begun calling them "cigarettes with training wheels." They |
| | come in flavors including chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. Bidi smoke has three |
| | times as much nicotine and carbon monoxide and five times as much tar as smoke |
| | from a regular cigarette. 70% of bidis sold in 1998 had no warning labels, and a |
| | quarter of stores illegally sold them to minors. |
| | USA Today, August 5, 1999, p. A1 |
| | tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| | Bidis resemble marijuana joints and have flavors including mango. strawberry, vanilla, |
| | chocolate, and cinnamon. Because they do not have filter and are wrapped in |
| | nonporous leaves, a smoker needs to inhale more often and more deeply to keep it lit. |
| | One bidi produces three times more carbon monoxide and nicotine, and five times |
| | more tar than a regular cigarette. |
| | Journal of the National Cancer Institute, November 3, 1999, pp. 1806-1807 |
| | tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| | "The trendiest smoke on college campuses these days emanates from Indian imports |
| | called beedies (from the Hindi bidi)." They have up to 8% nicotine compared to 1% to |
| | 2% in American cigarettes, and are unfiltered. They are hand rolled in Indian ebony |
| | leaves (tendu), and popular brands include Kailas and Mangalore Ganesh. Though |
| | they may have cult status in the U.S., in India where 800 billion are smoked every year |
| | they have little cachet and remain the "poor man's cigarette." |
| | Time, October 28, 1996, p. 28 |
| | tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| | tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour |
| | Thursday, July 06, 2000 | Page 36 of 36 |
| | globalink (artefact pour saut de ligne) |
Last page of this chapter Copyright (©) 2000 - David Moyer - published on UICC GLOBALink |