A landmark agreement has been made between RJ Reynolds and 39 states, including California, for the tobacco company to stop selling flavoured cigarettes domestically.

Anti-tobacco groups are hailing the agreement as a significant victory because flavoured cigarettes are popular with teens. The tobacco company settled a broad investigation of its domestic sales and marketing without paying any penalty. The coalition of states argued that the flavoured cigarettes violated a nationwide settlement with the largest tobacco companies in 1998 that prohibited the marketing of products to youths. The agreement, effective 11 October 2006, allows the continued sale of flavoured cigarettes only in Chicago's Marshall McGearty's, billed as the nation's first cigarette lounge. Last year, a national survey by Buffalo's Roswell Park Cancer Institute found that 20 per cent of smokers aged 17 to 19 said they used flavoured cigarettes in the past 30 days while just 6 per cent of smokers over the age of 25. KCBS’ Mike Colgan spoke with Margo Sidener, the executive director of Breathe California about the decision. "If it tastes like candy instead of like cigarettes, youth are more apt to try it. It's much more attractive,” she said. Sidener added that teens don’t think that smoking is addictive. “Kids think they can just smoke say, until they're 30, when they don't have to be cool anymore. In fact, research shows that the kids that thought they weren't going to be smoking five years later are indeed, still smoking when we follow up." Last year 13.2 per cent of California teens smoked compared to 15.4 this year, a jump that Sidnair says is serious. Another issue is the illegal sale of tobacco to minors. "That increased significantly last year, from 10.2 per cent in 2005 to 13.2 per cent in 2006,” Sidener said. The ban on flavoured cigarettes includes the brand names “Twista Lime” and “Mocha Taboo,” that critics say were marketed specifically to youths. (pi)