Addressing Use of Cigars

What to know

People in any sector, including government, parents or teachers, and health professionals, can take action to prevent the use of cigars and help people quit.

What you can do to take action

People in any sector, including government, parents or teachers, and health professionals, can take action to prevent the use of cigars and help people quit. Implementing policies can reduce the number of people who smoke cigars. Free resources, like quitlines and websites, can help you or someone you know quit for good.

States, communities, tribes, and territories

States, communities, tribes, and territories can fairly and equitably implement evidence-based, population-level strategies that address the use of all forms of tobacco products, including cigars. These strategies include:

  • Licensing retailers who sell any type of tobacco product. This strategy identifies who sells cigars and other tobacco products. It also makes equitable implementation and enforcement of tobacco control policies possible.
  • Prohibiting sales of flavored cigars and other tobacco products. Studies of local U.S. policies show that restricting the sale of flavored tobacco products, including flavored cigars, reduces tobacco use.12 As of June 2024, over 370 U.S. communities have implemented laws prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products, including flavored cigars.3
  • Raising the price of cigars and other tobacco products and prohibiting price discounts.
  • Reducing the advertising and marketing of cigars and other tobacco products to young people.
  • Ensuring that all people who use tobacco products have access to evidence-based quitting resources to help them quit successfully. This includes counseling and medication.
  • Tailoring cessation messages to better reach people who use cigars.
  • Developing educational initiatives that describe targeted tobacco industry marketing tactics. These initiatives also warn about the risks of tobacco product use, including cigars.

Parents and teachers can:

  • Learn about the health effects of cigars and how tobacco companies market cigars to specific groups of people.
  • Encourage kids who use tobacco products, including cigars, to take advantage of quitting resources in their community.
  • Talk to children, teens, and young adults about why all forms of tobacco products are harmful.
  • Develop and equitably implement and enforce tobacco-free school policies that address all types of tobacco products. These policies should include non-punitive penalties and restorative justice principles.
  • Implement school prevention and cessation programs that are free from tobacco industry influence. These programs should include education about cigars. Parents and teachers can also tailor these programs to the groups the tobacco industry targets with cigar marketing.

Health professionals can:

  • Learn about the different types of tobacco products and their associated risks.
  • Ask all patients if they use any tobacco products, including cigars.
  • Talk to children, teens, and young adults about why all forms of tobacco products are harmful.
  • Encourage patients to quit using tobacco products and provide them with support and evidence-based treatments to help them quit successfully.

Free quit resources

Telephone

Smartphone apps and text

Web

Print
Content Source:
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; Office on Smoking and Health
  1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Scientific Assessment of the Impact of Flavors in Cigar Products. U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Tobacco Products, 2022.
  2. Nguyen HV, Grootendorst P. Intended and Unintended Effects of Restrictions on the Sale of Cigarillos to Youth: Evidence from Canada. Tob Control. 2015;24(4):382–388.
  3. Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids. States & Localities That Have Restricted The Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products. 2024. Accessed August 30, 2024. https://assets.tobaccofreekids.org/factsheets/0398.pdf