Picking a flavor isn’t just for ice cream anymore. Smoke shops all over Eugene say that flavored shisha, hemp papers and cigars are selling like crazy this year. Flavored tobacco products appeal to a younger age group, and to young adults perhaps not interested in tobacco because of its harsh taste.
Jeremy Markiz, a freshman at the University, owns his own hookah and said his favorite shisha flavors are mint and blueberry.
“It’s like candy,” Markiz said. “You can mix and change and make your own flavors.”
Markiz said that smoking is “a social thing, an opportunity to get people together … It’s different every time. The flavor, it adds a different element.”
The trend in the city is reflected nationally. For almost a decade, Reynolds-American-owned cigarette brands like Kool and Camel manufactured flavored cigarettes, but despite their popularity stopped selling them nationally last month due to public pressure.
Mike Heath, the manager of Hunky Dory Pipe & Tobacco on 271 W. 7th Ave., said they sell more than seventy flavors of shisha. Everything from bubble gum to cappuccino is available, but strawberry, mint, mango and melon sell very well. Hunky Dory also sells flavored hemp papers for rolling cigarettes, where blueberry, raspberry and vanilla top the list of most popular flavors. Heath also sells flavored cigars, in everything from honey to vanilla to liquor-infused cigars.
“Sounds fun,” Heath said, “doesn’t it?”
Over on 20 E. 11th Ave., Sweet Potato Pie sells a variety of tobacco products. In the Eugene spirit, hemp papers are also available as well as “raw,” or vegan, meaning made without animal products. Sales representative Hannah Cooley said rice papers for rolling are also available and are growing in popularity because of their low cost. The store sells a variety of herbal-tobacco blends, with sweet-smelling organic material such as jasmine or cardamom. As more and more Eugene students are rolling their own cigarettes, Cooley said, flavored hemp-papers are hot sellers. Coconut, cherry bon-bon, honey, blueberry and peach are popular choices.
“Lots of people want weird flavors,” Cooley said.
Students must know, however, that flavored tobacco products aren’t any healthier than regular ones. In fact, some can be worse. A type of flavored cigarette from India called a “bidi” contains three times the amount of nicotine and five times the carbon monoxide of a regular cigarette, meaning it’s more addictive and more poisonous.
Annie Dochnahl, a health educator at the University Health Center, said, “Flavored tobacco is designed to bring in new smokers … a more palatable cigarette opens up doors.”
Concerning hookahs, Dochnahl said, “We recognize that students are smoking hookah, but they need to know that the water isn’t filtering out the carcinogens.”
For students wanting to quit using tobacco, the Health Center offers reduced-price nicotine gum and patches, and yes, the gum even comes in different flavors.