[ Golden Gater Online - November 13, 1997 ]
Josephine Lee
The Spectator (Columbia U.)
(U-WIRE) NEW YORK -- Chic, isn't it?
Beth Morales draws the smoke of a Partagas Shorts into her mouth, breaths in, and then quickly blows it out into the cool evening air.
It's all fun and games for four girls who gather outside Carman Hall on the campus of Columbia University, giggling over their first cigar.
"How do you not inhale?" asks one girl.
"I don't know. I've been inhaling," says another.
The other girls make faces and laugh, then return to smoking, determined to finish a cigar. They don't go unnoticed either, as guys come up to them to ask questions and comment on the cigars.
The cigar has been a symbol for power, privilege and prestige since the conquistadors introduced tobacco to the European nobility in the 1500s. That changed when they were associated with gruffy old men chomping on cigars, but now "everybody who's anybody" is trying to get in on it, especially those who weren't included in the cigar arena before: young people and women.
With the largest cigar club in the nation, Columbia definitely has its fair share of young cigar lovers and fad smokers. According Jason DeLuca, president and founder of the Columbia University Cigar Club, many view the cigar as a status symbol, especially in social situations.
"It's all power. A man smoking a cigar is trying to capture that power; he is able to show off a little bit. I think women smoke cigars for the same reason. They want a little bit of it too. But now it's being diluted. Now it's, 'Hey, I'm going to do it too because everyone else is doing it. Let's see if I can get some of that power. What about me?' Little Joe over here who lights it the wrong way, doesn't know what he's doing, and gets sick," DeLuca said.
The air of sophistication, or refinement that draws people to cigars is owed to the five-year-old Cigar Aficionado magazine. Celebrity endorsements, like Alec Baldwin's picture on the cover of the fall issue of Smoke magazine, or the stogie between Vanessa Williams' lips at the premiere of Eraser, has helped increase cigar consumption in the United States to 4.5 billion last year. According to the Cigar Association of America, this is more than two times the amount of cigars smoked in 1994, which marks the first annual increase in cigar consumption since 1970.
This increase has caused problems for long-time cigar smokers, since the industry can't meet demands, and prices have gone through the roof. With a 32 percent increase in imports of foreign cigars also came a 45 percent increase in its dollar value. According to Larry Sherman, Nat Sherman's director of retail operations, prestigious cigar establishments, such as his, aim to keep up with demand and keep prices down, when possible.
"We've really attempted to take care of our customers that have been here for a long time. But it's tough. As a store, we pride ourselves on customer service, but as an industry, it's difficult to serve customers when you don't have products and you can't meet demand. A lot of them are feeling like they were here first, smoking cigars. 'Why are they so popular now?'" Sherman said.
Cigar bars and restaurants that call themselves "cigar-friendly" are popping up all over the city. Choosing a cigar can give some a headache with all the new brands and gadgets on the market.
"There's a new case where if you don't finish your cigar, you can put it into the case and it snuffs it out. There's really neat stuff like that, which you wish you had the money to buy," Helen Kim said.
Kim had her first cigar when she was of legal age to smoke. She was at a poker game one evening and her friends decided that "a poker game isn't a poker game without cigars." So they dropped by 7-Eleven to pick up some genuine mini-mart cigars that Kim said made her sick after she smoked them.
"I don't like smoking them as much as having them. It's like a collector's item for me. Except the problem with cigars is when you buy them, they get dry, so you're compelled to smoke them, because you don't want to waste your investment, right?" Kim said. Just the other week, Kim made a $9 investment on a cigar in a "pretty" yellow case.
The American Lung Association reported in 1996 that 26.7 percent of 14- to 19-year-olds have smoked a cigar in the past year. In keeping with this national trend, the Columbia Cigar Society saw a soar in membership from 20 in 1993 to over 400 this year.
DeLuca held the first meeting of the Cigar Society in the university's library. Things have come a long way since then, with all the hype about cigars going on. Smoke magazine featured the club in an 11-page article last year. Two weeks ago, the club held a cigar night on the roof of the World Trade Center, handing out free cigars to many who haven't smoked before.
"The Cigar Society is mainly about relaxing and having fun in a different atmosphere than you would normally find," DeLuca said.
On a whim, Polly Blitzer and her friend Yelena Dudochkin said they joined the Cigar Society last year, of which nearly half the membership is female. Since then, they have both developed a keen taste for cigars: Dudochkin likes the Avo XO and the Montecristo. Blitzer likes "anything smooth," a Cohiba or a Montecruz. Like most women who are newcomers in what was once an old boy's club, Blitzer and Dudochkin do not go unnoticed when they pull out a cigar.
"People respond to our cigar smoking as women. You go out, and sometimes people don't know how to react. There are girls who will look at us and scorn. It can either be seen as a threat, because it's not the typical thing you see women doing, or it can be seen as more attractive. People will come up to us and ask questions, like a conversation starter. Some guys will come up to us and use it as that," Dudochkin said.
Rhona Kasper, founder of the Harley Group, a marketing firm geared toward women, encourages women to smoke. She writes in her article A Women's Guide to Cigar Smoking: "That just holding this power prop at the end of your fingers gives today's women a certain sense of liberation -- as either a revolutionary feminist or a romantic femme fatale."
Some, however, say this cigar revolution may soon come to an end. Although there are no Surgeon General's warnings on cigars, the increased publicity in cigar smoking has caused researchers to commission more studies on the physical effects of cigar smoking.
According to the American Lung Association, cigar smokers have higher death rates from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and are four to 10 times more likely to contract cancers of the mouth, larynx and esophagus. Even a large stogie can contain as much tobacco as a pack of cigarettes.
Cecilia Penkala, director of Smoking Cessation, noted that, in some cases, cigars can cause just as much damage to one's body as cigarettes.
"Cigars aren't cancer free. They have the same components as in cigarettes that cause cancer. Even though most people say that they don't inhale, cigars produce a lot of smoke, and most people in an atmosphere where there are other cigar smokers, are breathing in everybody's smoke," Penkala said.
When the government "shuts one door," says Penkala, tobacco manufacturers find other ways to aim advertising at young people.
"Young people do not look at long-term diseases. They think 'that happens to 50-year-olds. I've got a long time before that happens," Penkala said.
DeLuca says he lives every moment for the present. He's read the articles on cigar smoking and says they don't apply to him. Five years ago, Jason says he discovered a pleasure in smoking cigars, and although he doesn't smoke very often, it is a ritual when he does.
In a small blank journal, DeLuca tapes down the cigar band of every cigar he's ever smoked. Next to the bands, he writes down when he had that cigar -- opening Christmas presents with friends, first day of college.
"It forces you to sit down and think about what's happened in your life and enjoy it. If you've had all these things that have happened in your life, you need to stop and just enjoy that moment, and say 'Wow.' It's just a want of closure and I affiliate that with a cigar," Jason said.
It remains to be determined whether or not this sudden upsurge in cigar smoking among American youth will continue. Some view it as a passing fad, while others feel that cigars are here to stay. Besides, how can it be cool when everyone else is doing it now?
"I'm thinking of moving on to pipes. Pipes seem a little bit more distinct and they have more flavors," Kim said. "Cigars get a little old if you're not that enthusiastic about smoking them versus just having them."
[ Golden Gater - November 13, 1997 ]