| 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 |
| Page 36 of 36 |
| globalink (artefact pour saut de ligne) |
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