Put out cigarillos, Dix says

jeff hodson / metro vancouver

Vancouver-Kingsway MLA Adrian Dix wants tougher rules on the sale of cigarillos, such as these, on sale yesterday at the Ash Market on Nelson Street in Vancouver.

Published: December 11, 2008 5:25 a.m.

Last modified: December 11, 2008 1:29 a.m.

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A Vancouver MLA wants to butt out the sale of individual candy-flavoured cigarillos because they are smoked disproportionately by youth and have less health regulations than cigarettes.

Vancouver-Kingsway MLA Adrian Dix said 25 per cent of students between grades 5 to 12 have tried smoking cigarillos — a tiny cigar with flavours like strawberry or chocolate. Only three per cent of people 25 years and older had tried them.

“The rate of smoking, depending on what survey you use, is four to five times greater under 19 than it is over 25 for this product,” Dix said from Victoria yesterday. “Regardless what you think of the motives of the industry, the practical reality is that young people are the ones smoking these things.”

Cigarillos, which can only be sold legally to people 19 and older, come in a wide variety of fruit and candy flavours and are sold as singles or in small packages. Singles cost less than $2. Dix said he wants to make cigarillos less attractive to young people.

Specifically, he wants the little cigars sold in packages of 20 or more, making them more cost prohibitive. He also wants flavouring banned and said the packages should contain the same health information and warnings found on cigarettes.

Dix plans to introduce a private member’s bill in the spring. A similar bill passed earlier this month in Ontario.