A World Health Organization poll to coincide with World No Tobacco Day found that more teenagers were smoking non-cigarette products than actual cigarettes.
A series of events are being staged across the world on Wednesday to mark the day and raise awareness about the theme of "deadly in any form or disguise".
Public health minister Caroline Flint said: "It's so important that we de-bunk the myths associated with rolling tobacco - it's not less harmful, it's not more natural and you're just as likely to develop smoking related illnesses."
Many smokers said their motivation in smoking roll-ups was because they were cheaper and made them smoke less, although experts said they were concerned how many also wrongly gave health benefits as a reason.
Research has shown that roll-ups are more likely to cause lung and oesophageal cancer.
As well as roll-ups, the report found that water pipes or smokeless products such as snuff were becoming popular, but Dr Yumiko Mochizuki-Kobayashi, director of the WHO tobacco free initiative, said: "Tobacco can kill in any guise and that is why all products containing tobacco need to be regulated immediately in all forms."
