Native Cigarettes
Native Cigarettes
A growing number of Native Americans are opting to buy Native Cigarettes, a line of cigarettes made by indigenous communities. Purchasing the cigarettes helps support the business owners and their families. The cigarettes also come in a variety of flavors, from traditional tobacco to fruit and menthol. These options allow smokers to enjoy smoking the way they want to, while helping to reduce cigarette rates in their community.More info :https://nativecigarettes.com/
Gina Boudreau, who sells her husband’s native cigarettes in her home in the northern part of the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, says that Native American people have a long history of using tobacco, including in sacred rituals. However, customs related to growing and respecting the plant have eroded over time, leaving many Native American communities exposed mostly to commercial versions of tobacco that lead to high levels of cigarette use and smoking-related diseases like cardiovascular disease and lung cancer.
Connecting with Tradition: The Story Behind Native Cigarettes
Native tobacco farmers and sellers are working to decrease the impact of commercial tobacco on their communities in a variety of ways. These include creating smoke free spaces at pow-wows, offering tobacco cessation help in clinics and hosting classes to teach how to grow and harvest traditional tobacco.
As a result of tribal sovereignty, the federal government and state governments have little power to regulate or tax cigarettes sold on reservations. As such, Native cigarettes often cost less than branded name-brand cigarettes sold in non-tribal stores. For example, the Cayuga Nation factory at Akwesasne sells its own native-brand cigarettes for $10 per pack — roughly half the price of name brands in upstate New York.