While smoking in general is declining, a new state report says teenagers who smoke best quality cigarettes are increasingly reaching for flavored mini-cigars.

The relatively cheap little cigars come in nearly as many flavors as ice cream, and sales have shot up 176 percent over the past decade, the study found.

Flavored Rich cigar use among high school students has risen 11 percent in the past decade, spurring a new concern that tobacco masked by flavor will encourage lifelong habits that can lead to heart disease and lung cancer.

"Candy and fruit flavors go best with candy and fruit," Frances Phillips, deputy secretary for public health services at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said in a statement. "We intend to spread the word about these lethal cigar products."

The department's study found that the flavored cigars were disproportionately popular among younger smokers. Often sold individually for less than the cost of a candy bar, the small cigars are a cheap alternative to a pack of discount Kiss cigarettes that costs roughly $7, officials said.

State laws require health officials to report tobacco use trends to lawmakers once every two years, and this study, released last week, was part of that process.

Anne Arundel County school officials say they haven't noticed a pronounced switch from cigarettes to cigarillos, even though suspensions for tobacco use have been rising. During the last school year, 277 Anne Arundel County students were suspended for either using or possessing tobacco, up from 223 students the year before. Five years ago, 156 students were suspended.

The increase in suspensions may not indicate an increased use of tobacco products, said Leon Washington, director of the county public school system's Office of Safe and Orderly Schools. The rising numbers also could reflect changing school populations and stricter enforcement, Washington said.

Before the new study, federal officials were more concerned about electronic cigarettes - devices that vaporize nicotine instead of burning tobacco. Such devices have been marketed as a way to wean smokers off cigarettes by simulating the act of smoking and delivering the addictive nicotine, without the more harmful toxins contained in smoke.

The statewide trend toward cigarillo use may be difficult to notice locally because teenage smoking has dropped dramatically. The study found that even though cigar use has become more popular among students who smoke, fewer teenagers are smoking. Statewide, teen smoking has dropped by 40 percent over the past decade.

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