35 percent of Canadian teens try cigars

WATERLOO, Ontario, June 23 (UPI) -- Thirty-five percent of Canadian teens in grades 10 to 12 say they had tried cigars,

cigarillos and little cigars, a survey indicates.

The Youth Smoking Survey released by the University of Waterloo also said that while 39.5 percent of boys and 30 percent of girls say they tried cigars, cigarillos and little cigars, 48 percent say they had tried cigarettes.

The survey of 71,000 students in Grades 5 to 12 in 467 schools across Canada conducted by the Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation during the 2006-07 school year was funded by Health Canada.

Cigarillos, a short, narrow cigar wrapped in whole-leaf tobacco, are sold in smaller quantities and are easier to obtain because they aren't regulated in the same way as cigarettes.

"These results are disturbing," Rob Cunningham of the Canadian Cancer Society said in a statement. "Cigarillos are appealing to teenagers because they come in flavors such as fruit, candy and ice cream."

The sampling frame was designed to produce a representative sample of all youth in Canada in grades 5 through 12, Cunningham said.