Are "little cigars" a big scam?

A Department of Revenue hearing later this week will address so-called "little cigars," which smoking opponents view as a marketing gimmick used by tobacco companies to make their products attractive to kids and to skirt cigarette taxes.

A proposed tweaking of state law would classify as cheap cigarettes several little cigar products that currently are taxed at a much lower rate.

The change would apply cigarette taxes to any product that meets two or more of eight criteria, including being sold in packs of 20 or 25 or cartons of 10 packs, having the same size and shape as regular cigarettes or having a filter.

At a press conference Tuesday, representatives of health groups pointed out that some little cigars come in flavors like cherry or mint cholocate and have saccharin in the filters to sweeten the taste. Aside from being wrapped in brown paper instead of white, they look a lot like discount cigarettes .

Some come in packs of 20 that are barely discernable on the outside from traditional cigarettes, while others come one at a time in slim plastic packages that could be confused for lip gloss or makeup. Standard cigarettes are required to be sold in packs of 20 to 25.

Some little cigars include the standard surgeon general's warning about the dangers of smoking, while others don't.

"(Tobacco companies) are making their products much less expensive, to appeal to youth; they're flavoring them, to appeal to youth; and they're getting around cigarette taxes," said Kristen Page Nei of the American Cancer Society.

Holding up a fistful of individually packaged little cigars in hard plastic containers, Betty Beverly of the Montana Senior Citizen Association said the small, single-smoke packages look benign.

"If you looked at these in your child's backpack, you'd think they're magic markers," she said. "They're very cleverly disguised."

The health groups say a surge in little cigar sales followed substantial increases in cigarette taxes in Montana. In 2003, the state cigarette tax was 18 cents per pack. That was increased to 70 cents that year by the Legislature, and a year later, voters approved a $1 increase to push the tax to $1.70 per pack starting in 2005.