Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Case, Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Health Behavior, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2018 Feb 7;20(3):370-376. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntw328.
Prevalence of cigar use has been increasing among youth. Research indicates that youth are modifying cigar products either by "freaking" (ie, removing the filter paper) or "blunting" (removing the tobacco and supplementing or replacing with marijuana), yet little is known about youth who engage in this behavior. Thus, this study examines demographic and concurrent substance use behaviors of youth who modify cigars.
Data from the 2013 Cuyahoga County Youth Risk Behavior survey were examined (n = 16 855). The survey collected data on demographics, cigar product use, cigar modification behaviors, and current cigarette, hookah and marijuana use. Responses to cigar product use items were used to create a composite to classify youth in one of eight unique user categories. Univariate and bivariate statistics were calculated using SPSS complex samples procedures.
Overall, 15.2% reported current cigar product use, 11.0% reported current freaking, and 18.5% reported current blunt use; taken together, 25.3% of respondents reported any current use of a cigar product. When examined by user category, of those who endorsed any cigar product use, cigars, cigarillos, and little cigars use only was most endorsed (26.3%), followed by Blunt only (25.2%) and all three (ie, cigars, cigarillos, and little cigars, freaking, and blunting; 17.4%).
A substantial proportion of high school youth who report using cigar products are modifying them in some way, with nearly half freaking and nearly two-thirds blunting. Given the FDA Center for Tobacco products recent extension of its regulatory authority to include cigar products, it is imperative to understand more about the prevalence of and reasons for cigar modification behaviors.
Although the FDA has recently enacted regulatory authority over cigar products, little is known about cigar product modification. This is the first study to concurrently examine two unique cigar modification behaviors, "freaking" (ie, removing the filter paper) and "blunting" (removing the tobacco and supplementing or replacing with marijuana). A significant proportion of high school youth are modifying cigar products to be used as a tobacco product and as a mechanism to smoke marijuana. More research is needed to understand these behaviors to prevent and reduce the use of cigar products among youth.
雪茄的使用在青少年中呈上升趋势。研究表明，青少年正在通过“怪异化”（即去除过滤嘴纸）或“钝化”（去除烟草并用大麻替代或补充）来改造雪茄产品，但对于从事这种行为的青少年却知之甚少。因此，本研究旨在调查改造雪茄的青少年的人口统计学和同期物质使用行为。
本研究对 2013 年凯霍加县青少年风险行为调查的数据进行了分析（n=16855）。该调查收集了有关人口统计学、雪茄产品使用、雪茄改造行为以及当前香烟、水烟和大麻使用的数据。使用雪茄产品使用项目的回答来创建一个组合，将青少年分为八个独特用户类别的其中之一。使用 SPSS 复杂样本程序计算了单变量和双变量统计数据。
总体而言，15.2%的人报告当前使用雪茄产品，11.0%的人报告当前“怪异化”，18.5%的人报告当前“钝化”；综合来看，25.3%的受访者报告了任何当前使用雪茄产品的情况。在按用户类别进行检查时，在那些认可任何雪茄产品使用的人中，只使用雪茄、小雪茄和小雪茄的比例最高（26.3%），其次是只使用 Blunt（25.2%）和三者都使用（即雪茄、小雪茄和小雪茄、“怪异化”和“钝化”；17.4%）。
相当一部分报告使用雪茄产品的高中生以某种方式对其进行改造，近一半的人“怪异化”，近三分之二的人“钝化”。鉴于 FDA 烟草产品中心最近扩大了对雪茄产品的监管权，了解更多关于雪茄产品改造行为的流行程度和原因至关重要。
尽管 FDA 最近对雪茄产品实施了监管权，但对雪茄产品的改造知之甚少。这是第一项同时检查两种独特的雪茄改造行为，“怪异化”（即去除过滤嘴纸）和“钝化”（去除烟草并用大麻替代或补充）的研究。相当一部分高中生正在改造雪茄产品，将其作为一种烟草产品使用，并作为吸食大麻的一种手段。需要进一步研究这些行为，以防止和减少青少年使用雪茄产品。
