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An alarming number of Canadian teens are smoking fruit-flavoured cigarillos, a new survey reveals, which should prompt governments across the country to ban the products immediately, the Canadian Cancer Society says.

A national survey released yesterday found that about 35 per cent of teens in Grades 10 to 12 have tried cigarillos, mini-cigars or cigars.

Nearly one-third of students questioned in the survey said they purchased cigarillos at a retail store.

It's the first time the smoking survey, conducted every two years by researchers at the University of Waterloo, questioned students about their use of cigarillos, and the findings demonstrate the products are a growing concern that could be encouraging kids to take up smoking, according to the cancer society.

"Certainly we are very concerned that some kids who would otherwise never start smoking could be come addicted by cigarillos being a starter product," senior policy analyst Rob Cunningham said. "Cigarillos contain nicotine. They can addict kids, and we don't want these candy-flavoured tobacco products to entice kids who would otherwise never smoke."

Health Canada is currently looking at new ways to regulate cigarillos and recently launched a public consultation process to determine whether manufacturers should be required to put stronger warnings on cigarillo packages to make them more comparable to cigarettes.

Cigarillos, or mini-cigars, come in a variety of fruit flavours. They are sold at gas stations and convenience stores for about $1 each. Many anti-smoking advocates describe them as "starter cigarettes" and say their colourful packages and appealing flavours are designed to entice children into smoking.

The issue has become increasingly heated in recent months as politicians in several provinces have begun calling for stronger rules to prevent young Canadians from buying and smoking the popular cigarillos.

Federal New Democrat MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis tabled a private member's bill earlier this month that would ban colourful packaging and flavoured cigarillos. A similar bill was tabled in Nova Scotia's legislature in May.

Health Canada said that cigarillo sales have jumped substantially in recent years, rising from fewer than 50,000 units in 2001 to 80 million in 2006.

"They're flavoured - they have some attraction to kids. They're also different," said Steve Manske, a scientist at the University of Waterloo's Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation.

The survey, which was conducted during the 2006-2007 school year, found that 21 per cent of students in Grades 5 to 9 had tried one tobacco product in their lives. Although that number is a concern, what's perhaps even more worrisome is that smoking rates have not shown any decline since the 2004-2005 survey, Dr. Manske said.

Researchers found that about 40 per cent of boys in Grades 10 to 12 had tried cigarillos, mini-cigars or cigars, compared with 30 per cent of girls.

About 10 per cent of students in Grades 5 to 9 reported they had tried cigarillos or related products. The survey involved 71,000 students at 467 schools who were in Grades 5 to 12.

Since the new survey was the first to ask students about cigarillos, it's difficult to say how much the products may be influencing youth smoking rates, Dr. Manske said.

But the number of young people who report having tried them, along with anecdotal evidence of their prevalence across Canada, demonstrates

it is a growing problem, he said.

But one company that distributes a popular cigarillo brand said the industry is not trying to market to children. Adding flavours to tobacco products is simply a way of appealing to consumers of a legal age and is a common tactic in other products, such as alcoholic beverages, said Luc Martial, who conducts government affairs for Casa Cubana, which distributes Prime Time cigarillos.

Instead of vilifying one product, advocacy groups and politicians should focus on the fact many teens are buying cigarettes at convenience stores or have access to contraband tobacco, he said.

"It has nothing to do with the product. It has to do with product access," he said.