“I just use it for weed”: The modification of little cigars and cigarillos by young adult African American male users

ABSTRACT

Little cigar and cigarillo (LCC) use has received increased attention, but research on their modification is limited. Qualitative interviews with 17 young adult African American male LCC users investigated tobacco use behaviors and patterns, including LCC modification. The modification of LCCs for use as blunts emerged as a very prominent aspect of LCC users’ tobacco use. Four subthemes regarding marijuana and blunt use are explored in this article, including participants’ explanations of how blunts are made and used, concurrent use of marijuana and tobacco, perceptions and reasons for smoking marijuana and blunts, and perceptions of the risks of blunt use.

KEYWORDS:

• Blunts
• cigarillos
• little cigars
• marijuana

Acknowledgements

This publication was made possible by the Cooperative Agreement #1-U48-DP-001930 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Cleveland, UL1TR000439 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) component of the National Institutes of Health, and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the NIH, or other funders.