The Bidi Boom.

Although most people recognize that smoking is bad for children's health, one smoking trend among teenagers and adolescents that is only recently getting the attention it deserves is the use of bidis, thin, hand-rolled, unfiltered cigarettes made with sun-dried tobacco that is wrapped in the leaf of the tendu, a plant grown in India's forests. Strong flavors such as vanilla, strawberry, cinnamon, and mango are added to mask the poor-quality tobacco, and serve to make the taste appealing to children. Bidi use was first observed during the mid-1990s, but several recent reports show that their popularity among teenagers is growing--in 1999, their use nearly equaled that of smokeless tobacco. Considered the "poor man's cigarette" in India due to their lower-quality tobacco content, bidis also cost significantly less than cigarettes, an added bonus to young users. Although bidis, as a tobacco product, may not be legally purchased by minors, they are sold at places such as convenience stores, grocery stores, gas stations, smoke shops, and Web sites, and thus are easily accessible by teenagers and adolescents.

In 1999, the American Legacy Foundation, a public interest organization dedicated to reducing youth tobacco product use and substance abuse, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, measured the prevalence of tobacco use among middle school and high school students. The study, the National Youth Tobacco Survey, revealed that 5% of all high school students and 2.4% of middle school students, respectively, smoke bidis. A report published in the 17 September 1999 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report conducted by the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program (MTCP) assessed adolescents' knowledge and use of bidis. The report summarized preliminary data collected from a sample of Massachusetts adolescents during March and April 1999. Of the 642 youths surveyed, 40% reported that they had smoked bidis at least once and 16% were current bidi smokers (defined as having smoked more than one bidi in the last 30 days). Study subjects cited taste, cheaper cost, and greater ease of buying as reasons for smoking bidis over conventional cigarettes.

Federal health officials and anti-smoking activists say that many adolescents don't realize that unfiltered bidis are more dangerous than cigarettes. The MTCP tested bidis on a standard smoking machine and found that they produce 2-3 times more carbon monoxide, nicotine, and tar than cigarettes.

Also, the leaf used to wrap bidis is denser than paper, thus smokers must inhale more deeply and more frequently to keep a bidi lit.

The Federal Trade Commission requires that bidi importers submit a plan detailing how they are going to comply with the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act by labeling their packs and cartons with one of the four standard Surgeon General's warnings before the cigarettes can be imported into the United States. "There may people getting by without adequate warnings on their product, but we have asked Customs to look out for such cases," says Michael Ostheimer of the commission's division of advertising practices.

Although bidi sales are already illegal for minors, Arizona legislators have taken additional steps by specifically banning bidi sales to adolescents and increasing the penalties for illegal sales. The MTCP has said that additional research is needed to help answer other questions about bidi use such as how restrictions on sales should be enforced and about appropriate labeling of bidi packages.