Roll-Your-Own Success Has Dangerous Implications

In a never-ending attempt to make tobacco seem desirable and more importantly, cool, savvy big tobacco marketers are trying out a new idea that makes smoking not only cool but hands-on.

Jamaica has always been a country with prevalent smoking rates but now it will serve as a sort of test market to a new product: roll your own tobacco stores. U-Roll’em is a new type of smoke shop opened in Jamaica in which shoppers go in, choose their own tobacco (flavor, consistency, boldness, etc.) and make their own signature type of cigarette or cigar. The idea is to allow smokers to customize their habit to their tastes and, in the process, makes the act of buying tobacco a much more personal experience than going into a corner store and buying the same exact pack as everyone else. It’s pretty easy to see the appeal this sort of business would have to smokers.

These new, roll-your-own tobacco stores are owned and operated by an American couple living in Florida and although the business is currently exclusive to the Caribbean, this could hit much closer to home soon. The couple currently has plans to open U-Roll’em’s in 29 Caribbean countries and with enough success we could see something similar stateside in the not-too-distant future.

Making smoking more personal could be a dangerous reaction to the countless American laws that have continuously pushed the habit in the opposite direction for years. The roll-your-own stores have been doing well in the islands, how would they go over here?