It s crazy to smoke them unless you re a moron and want to die, says seventeen year old Kirk. But all kids are not easily convinced. Experts advise parents to teach kids about the dangers of smoking bidis and show them pictures and reports of people who have suffered or died from smoking any kind of cigarette. Many kids believe bidis are safe because they are often called herbal cigarettes. In fact, some researchers found that as many as half of kids smoking them were not aware of the high nicotine and tar content.
Some kids even switch to bidis in an attempt to cut back on smoking.
The Indian cigarettes are often touted as herbal and therefore less harmful when in fact they can be much more powerful than American cigarettes. Bidis have been sold in the United States for many years and were at one time popular on college campuses, but now they are becoming trendy among many middle school and high school kids. Kids like the variety of flavors which include licorice, cinnamon, mint, grape vanilla, cherry, clove, peppermint, strawberry and chocolate. Store owners say the bidi because of new flavors and are particularly popular among minorities. While they are often sold in bundles tied together by a string, bidis also come in boxes that are supposed to carry the surgeon general s warning.