Despite an ongoing nationwide battle to combat smoking, particularly in young people, the novel cigarette is gaining popularity among American youths who are under the mistaken impression that bidis are less dangerous than cigarettes. To keep a bidi lit, smokers must breathe more deeply and take more puffs than with regular cigarettes, resulting in more tar and nicotine to the smoker. One study found that bidis produce approximately three times the carbon monoxide and nicotine and about five times the amount of tar that cigarettes produce. Recently, Durbin issued letters to federal agencies urging them to prevent the sale of untaxed bidis, which now make the cigarettes cheaper to buy. Also, Chicago Ald.
Laws already ban the sale of tobacco products to minors, and bidis are considered a tobacco product.
A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report shows that 40 percent of urban youths surveyed in Massachusetts had smoked bidis at least once, and 16 percent were current bidis smokers. The survey, the first in the nation to estimate the prevalence of bidis smoking among 7th through 12th graders, reported that almost one-quarter of students smoked bidis instead of cigarettes because they taste better. Federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Customs Service, are aware of bidis. Already, investigations are ongoing into the alleged use of forced child labor to produce bidis in India, the smuggling of bidis into the U.S. and sales of bidis without a health warning label, spokespeople for the agencies said. Customs has obtained what is the first plea agreement with a bidis importer distributing packs without a surgeon general's warning, said an agency spokesman.