Cigar Product Modification Among High School Youth.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Adolescent Health
• Tobacco Control

Background:

• Cigar use is rising among adolescents.
• Youth are modifying cigars through "freaking" (removing filter paper) or "blunting" (adding marijuana).
• Little is known about the characteristics of youth who modify cigars.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the demographic characteristics of youth who modify cigars.
• To investigate concurrent substance use behaviors among youth who modify cigars.
• To understand the prevalence of cigar modification behaviors in a high school population.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the 2013 Cuyahoga County Youth Risk Behavior survey (n=16,855).
• Collected data on demographics, cigar product use, cigar modification (freaking, blunting), and other substance use (cigarettes, hookah, marijuana).
• Employed univariate and bivariate statistics using SPSS complex samples procedures to analyze user categories.

Main Results:

• 15.2% reported current cigar product use; 11.0% reported "freaking," and 18.5% reported "blunting."
• 25.3% of respondents reported any current use of a modified cigar product.
• Among cigar users, "blunt" only use was 25.2%, and combined use of cigars, "freaking," and "blunting" was 17.4%.

Conclusions:

• A significant proportion of high school youth modify cigar products.
• "Freaking" and "blunting" are common modification methods.
• Understanding these behaviors is crucial for tobacco control efforts, especially with extended FDA regulatory authority over cigars.