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The Impact of a New Trump Administration’s Policy on Agencies

By Mike Copperman President Biden and former President Donald Trump have secured the necessary number of delegates to clinch their party’s presidential nomination, paving the way for the inevitable rematch…

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The Looming Shadow: Generational Smoking Bans and the Premium Cigar Industry

By Mike Copperman The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts’ decision to uphold the town of Brookline’s decision to implement a generational smoking ban, prohibiting the sale of tobacco to anyone…

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Canada’s Controversial Move: Individual Cigarette Warning Labels Spark Debate in Tobacco Control

Since 2001, Canada has taken an aggressive stance regarding tobacco control measures. Once again, it has set new standards with the introduction of individual cigarette warning messages to discourage smoking,…

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Celebrating Women’s Integral Role in the Premium Cigar Industry

In an industry often associated with tradition and masculinity, the pivotal role of women in the premium cigar world is increasingly gaining recognition. From the rolling factories of Latin America…

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FDA’s Nicotine Regulation Efforts

By: Mike Copperman, Executive Director of Cigar Rights of America The U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) recently issued a quarterly update on its activities,…

Chevron Case May Significantly Increase Agency Burden

In this article by Bloomberg’s Suzanne Monyak, a significant but underappreciated side-effect of the pending SCOTUS decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is raised: Agencies’ being deluged with lawsuits…

Cigar News

WASHINGTON, DC (November 6, 2023) – The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has released the results of its annual survey on youth tobacco use, which found that underage use is falling to historic lows. 

Considered the most reliable data on underage tobacco use, the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) this year found decreases in use across almost all categories. As it relates to middle and high school students who used tobacco products, this group was least likely to use “cigars,” with the rate falling from 2.8% to 1.8% over the last year.

While all reduction in underage tobacco use is cause for celebration, it is important to note that the data collected still fails to differentiate between premium cigars, which demonstrate nearly no detectable youth use at all, and mass-market cigar products. Mass-market cigars represent the vast majority of the underage cigar use, are typically sold at lower prices, and sometimes mimic cigarettes in form and function. 

Because there is no evidence of meaningful youth use of premium cigars, continuing to report these different categories of products as a single type conflates youth-usage data and could make under-age mass-market cigar use appear lower than it is in reality.

Cigar Rights of America (CRA) urges CDC to follow the U.S. House of Representatives’ encouragement to update the cigar category for the next wave of NYTS data, separating premium and mass-market products (H.R. Rpt. 117-403, at 82). While CDC declined to modify the NYTS questionnaire after that encouragement from the House, including this question would give the data significantly more granularity and give Americans a clearer picture of the real trends in youth use.

To accurately capture this data, CDC should update the 2024 NYTS questionnaire by using the definition that has been adopted by the federal courts, which defines a premium cigar as one that: 

  • Is wrapped in a whole tobacco leaf;
  • Contains a 100% leaf tobacco binder;
  • Contains at least 50 percent (of the filler by weight) long filler tobacco (i.e., whole tobacco leaves that run the length of the cigar);
  • Is handmade or hand rolled (i.e., no machinery was used apart from simple tools, such as scissors to cut the tobacco prior to rolling);
  • Has no filter, nontobacco tip, or non-tobacco mouthpiece;
  • Does not have a characterizing flavor other than tobacco;
  • Contains only tobacco, water, and vegetable gum with no other ingredients or additives; and
  • Weighs more than 6 pounds per 1,000 units.

CRA firmly opposes all underage tobacco use, and we believe the first step to preventing it is collecting accurate data on the problem. We hope CDC will act to obtain the clearest data on this important issue.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Cody Carden

Cigar Rights of America

202-844-4272

cody.carden@cigarrights.org

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About CRA

About Cigar Rights of America (CRA): Cigar Rights of America is a national advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the rights of consumers, retail tobacconists, suppliers, distributors, importers, and manufacturers of premium cigars. CRA works to promote and preserve the freedom to enjoy premium cigars.

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