Economic research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture backs up Sutton. Since 1998, small cigars have been the fastest-growing segment of the expanding cigar market. From 1998 to 2006, consumption of large cigars increased by 45 percent, while small cigar consumption increased by 154 percent. The most recent data show that in 2005, 14 percent of high school students were current cigar smokers.
Anti-tobacco advocates were quick to applaud the city's efforts.
"Like cigarettes, cigars are addictive and deadly, causing lung cancer, other cancers, heart disease and other serious illnesses," said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "The proliferation of individually sold cigars in recent years threatens to undermine efforts to prevent kids from smoking."
But not everyone was clapping. Some smokers complained that the ban might prevent them from feeding their nicotine habit. They said they often buy a small cigar when they don't have the money for a pack of cigarettes.
"What is this, a Communist country?" said Anthony Forbes, 37, of Dundalk.
Forbes said that although he prefers cigarettes, he sometimes smokes small cigars because they are cheap. "I don't like the idea" of a ban, he said.
But another smoker, Deborah Pitt, 45, of Baltimore, said she would support it because it could keep youths from smoking.
"It's a trend," she said of young people smoking small, fruit-flavored cigars. "But it's just not good."
Baltimore's proposed ban would require shop owners and clerks to sell the cigars in packs of five or more. City officials said that could discourage youths because a pack would be more expensive.
Wholesalers would be banned from selling the cigars in bins or boxes of singles.
The ban would not apply to cigar or tobacco shops, which are also exempt from the city's clean air law. "We're not saying you can't sell cigars," Dixon said.
It is unclear how long it could take to implement the new regulation. The city Health Department is seeking public comment on the proposal until July 1, including input from retailers regarding an appropriate start date.
City Council members, who have recently taken stands against trans fats and indoor smoking in public places, have expressed support for the ban.
"This is just a continuing effort, and the bottom line is that with the layering efforts of prohibitions on these products, people will eventually quit," said Councilman Robert W. Curran, who led the push to enact the city smoking ban. It was adopted in February 2007.
Similar legislation on small cigars introduced in the Maryland General Assembly this year died in committee.
Opponents argued that it was unnecessary because the state already prohibits the sale of tobacco products to minors.
Del. Shawn Z. Tarrant, a Baltimore Democrat who introduced the state legislation, said he hopes Baltimore is the first to adopt a ban on the sale of individual small cigars.
"We don't need to be in the business of encouraging young people to smoke," he said.
lynn.anderson@baltsun.com
