Cigarette sales fall, but other tobacco products pick up

Cigarette sales have been declining at a steady clip in recent years, but cheaper forms of tobacco have become more popular at the same time, Harvard scientists report.

In a research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Gregory N. Connolly and Hillel R. Alpert of the Harvard School of Public Health write that the 3.7 billion-pack, or 18 percent, drop in cigarette sales from 2000 to 2007 may have been offset by an uptick over the same period in sales of small cigars, roll-your-own tobacco, and moist snuff equivalent to 1.1 billion packs of cigarettes, or about 30 percent of the decrease in cigarette sales. Sales of large cigars also grew 37 percent during these eight years.

Cigarette prices have become steeper, going from $2.93 to $3.93 a pack in 2007, thanks largely to state and federal tax hikes. Small cigars and roll-your-own tobacco carry taxes 5 percent to 10 percent of the rate for cigarettes.

"The public health effects of changing patterns of consumption have not been determined, although tobacco use of any kind likely poses health risks," the authors write. "These findings should be considered in future policy decisions meant to curb tobacco use."

Eileen M. Sullivan, director of policy and planning at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Tobacco Control Program, said state health experts have been concerned about sales of little cigars, particularly to young people, for as little as $2.99 for two packs of 20 in two-for-one deals that make them far cheaper than cigarettes now near $6 a pack. A bill in conference committee on Beacon Hill would extend a tax increase on cigarettes to these little cigars, she said.

A 2007 survey of high school students in the state found a slight increase in the numbers smoking cigars or using smokeless tobacco. Checks of stores to see if they are selling tobacco to minors have turned up instances of individual cigars being sold to teenagers for 55 cents, Sullivan said.

"The message we want to get out is all types of tobacco are dangerous," she said, despite names such as Black and Mild or Soft and Sweet. "These products are just as dangerous as cigarettes."