Who's smoking cigar/cigarillos: A segmentation analysis?

Objectives: To examine the change in prevalence of cigar/cigarillo smoking among Canadians adolescents and young adults. Explore the factors associated with cigar/cigarillo smokers.

Method: Cross-sectional study based on data from the Canadian Tobacco Monitoring Survey 2003-2006 (n=84,391) and the Youth Smoking Survey 2006-2007 (n=71,003).

Results: The prevalence of cigar/cigarillo use has significantly increased from 2003 to 2007 (6% to 9% among 15-19 year olds; 6% to 11%, p<0.05 among 20-24 year olds). Over this period cigarette-only use have declined, while cigar/cigarillo-only use have increased, producing no change in the prevalence of all tobacco use. Cigar/cigarillo use among students (grades 7-12) was highly associated with lower school attachment, motivation to excel in school, self-esteem and higher absenteeism. Half of all cigar/cigarillo users who have never smoked cigarettes thought that they will smoke a cigarette in the next year and only 7% of non-cigarillo smokers reported as such. Cigar/cigarillo users who have never used cannabis had 5 times higher odds (95%CI: 4.3-6.7) of believing that they will experiment with cannabis in the next year compared to non cigar/cigarillo users.

Conclusion: As the second most commonly used tobacco product, cigars/cigarillos are rapidly gaining popularity among 15-24 year-olds. Belief among cigar/cigarillo users to experiment with cigarettes and cannabis in the next year illustrates the need to explore the possibility that cigars may be a gateway to cigarettes and cannabis.