Students Protest Import of Flavored Cigarettes

A student group of anti-smoking advocates staged a protest at a tobacco distributor’s corporate headquarters Monday, criticizing the company’s importation of hand-rolled, flavored cigarettes they say are targeted at children.

The cigarettes known as “bidis,” mostly imported from India, come in a variety of flavors, such as mint, wild cherry and grape, and are marketed to those who prefer the fruity flavors to regular tobacco taste.

The protesters also accused the industry of using child labor to produce the cigarettes, which sell for less than $4 for a pack of 20.

“We don’t want it in our community,” said Kenny Kristiansen, 16, a sophomore at Simi Valley’s Santa Susana High School and a spokesman for the group.

The high school and middle school students gathered at 10 a.m. at the Moorpark headquarters of bidi importer Kretek International to hold a news conference. They also delivered a petition asking the company to stop importing the cigarettes.

The petition included nearly 1,000 signatures, the first of which belonged to tobacco company whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand, whose story was featured in the recent film “The Insider,” one student said.

The news conference was attended by county Supervisor Judy Mikels, who pledged her support.

The dozen students who protested were recruited by the Tri-County Regional Team, a nonprofit agency funded by cigarette taxes and devoted to educating people about the danger of tobacco.

The team, which serves Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, contacted most of the students through service organizations, such as Boys & Girls Clubs. The organization then held classes to teach the students how bidi distributors allegedly target underage smokers, said Janet Benner, the Regional Team’s director.

The organization wanted to send a message to a bidi importer headquartered in Ventura County, she said.

The students--who attend Santa Susana High, Camarillo High School, Los Colinas Middle School in Camarillo and Mesa Verde Middle School in Moorpark--waved signs reading, “Tobacco in any flavor is still tobacco” and “Bidis: Joe Camel’s latest replacement” during the protest, which lasted about 30 minutes.

Mark Cassar, Kretek’s vice president of research and development, stood at the front doors for about 15 minutes to address the crowd and to defend his company’s sales practices.

Kretek contracts with a factory in India to produce the flavored cigarettes, which does not use child labor, said Cassar, whose company distributes about 500 tobacco products.

Cassar denied that the company markets its product to youngsters and said it does not advocate such sales.

“We’re very concerned about that,” Cassar said, adding that his company would consider cutting off supplies of bidis to any store that is known to have sold them to minors.

Jennifer Crader, 21, a UC Santa Barbara student who is on the Regional Team staff, was not persuaded.

“Strawberry is a popular seller,” she told Cassar, referring to strawberry-flavored tobacco. “Guess what Willy Wonka’s best-selling candy is? Strawberry.”

Cassar compared the flavored tobacco in bidis to different flavors of tea.

“In many countries, teas aren’t flavored,” he said. “The U.S. market demanded it, and it came to the U.S.”

Despite the criticism, Cassar said he was pleased to see young people getting involved in the community but thought they would be more successful if they targeted the major U.S. tobacco companies.

“Their efforts could be focused on a much larger level,” Cassar said. “They’re in Ventura County, we’re in Ventura County, so it’s convenient.”