Cigars can save the Tobacconists’ Income
The tobacconists of clove cigarettes decided to try a new method for to fix their income after the spice-flavored cigarettes are banned later this year. After the new anti-tobacco legislation, cigarettes importer started to sell the new filtered cigars, close to the size of a cigarette and flavored with clove, vanilla and cherry. They are available with quotation "totally by hand".
For example one of these importers is Kretek International Inc., which imported Djarum-brand tobacco products from Indonesia for to avoid new federal laws banning flavored cigarettes other than menthol. The ban on flavored cigarettes, which critics said that they can attract teenagers in smoking, goes into effect at the end of September.
But the new legislation doesn’t prohibited cigars, only because they differ from cigarettes. For example, cigarettes are wrapped in thin paper, cigars in tobacco leaves. While the cigars also are made with a different kind of tobacco, the taste is similar. The cigars come 12 to a pack, rather than 20 for cigarettes, but cost nearly half as much. And at last, cigarette smoking has been considered as hobby activity, while cigar smoking is a culture.
The ban is one of the first evident effects of a new law signed by President Barack Obama in June that gives the Food and Drug Administration vast authority to control tobacco, though it can’t ban nicotine or tobacco completely. The new law gives the FDA the power to ban other products like flavored cigars, but that hasn’t happened yet.
Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said: "Whether the cigars are truly different or just an attempt to trick the ban by making superficial changes are in the hands of the FDA." Clove cigarettes may be the most well-known target of the ban, reported researchers. Some major cigarette makers experimented with mint- or chocolate-flavored blends earlier this decade, but many of those products are no longer made after coming under fire, accused of targeting children.
John Geoghegan, director of brand development for Moorpark, Calif.-based Kretek International, said that the private company has not been so affected by the new anti-tobacco legislation, because clove cigarettes constitute less than 1 percent of cigarettes sold in the U.S. Now, clove smokers are being forced to decide whether to switch to the new cigars, or quit. Many will likely stock up or try to buy product over the Internet.
And how the ban will work remains a point of contention for shop owners who sell clove cigarettes. But the FDA says the message is clear: Flavored cigarettes are banned, and the agency has the authority necessary to enforce the prohibition.
Researchers concluded that with the passage of time, the passion of cigar smoking has been increasing more than ever before. In fact, today you can see a huge gap among cigar smokers in comparison of past years.
