December 15, 2011   They come in ice cream flavors such as strawberry, watermelon, vanilla and chocolate and are packaged in colorful wrappers—“Little Cigars” are finding a niche among teens, who like the price (about a dollar) and the taste. Young smokers say these cigarette-sized little cigars and cigarillos—slimmer versions of big cigars—look better and can be bought one at a time instead of spending more than $5 for a pack of cigarettes. Many teens also think that they are less addictive. The Food and Drug Administration banned flavored cigarettes in 2009, but no such ban applies to cigars. Maryland is one of several states where the increase in youth cigar smoking has been large enough that it has caught up with and in some cases surpassed cigarette use in that age group, according to state and federal health data. Between 2000 and 2010, cigarette smoking decreased by nearly 40 percent among Maryland high school students, but cigar use jumped more than 11 percent, according to the youth tobacco survey.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/teens-swapping-cigarettes-for-flavored-mini-cigars/2011/11/30/gIQAQuWmqO_story_1.html