NEW TWIST IN YOUTH SMOKING HABITS

San Francisco Cigarettes shaped like marijuana joints and scented to
conceal the harsh taste of high-nicotine tobacco are the newest teenage
fad, a student survey has found.

They're called "bidis" - also "beedies" and "beadies" - and are widely
available in grocery stores in paper-wrapped bundles of 20 for as little as
$1.25 a pack.

Results of a student poll found that 58 percent of teens surveyed at four
city high schools had tried the India-manufactured cigarettes at least once
and that two-thirds knew someone under the legal age of 18 who had
purchased them.

The study showed that 40 percent of the 461 students surveyed smoked bidis
more than once.

In San Francisco, the cigarettes were widely available, particularly in the
Western Addition, Haight and Tenderloin districts.

The young investigators found that the required surgeon general's warning
label was missing on seven out of 10 packs of bidis and that young teens
who tried to buy the products succeeded 24 percent of the time.

As a result, the youth center filed a complaint with the Federal Trade
Commission last month against the makers of the cigarettes.