Quite a while ago I asked someone {another African American} why he thought that we called cigarettes 'squares'.

He told me that cemetary plots are square, and since we also call cigarettes 'cancer sticks', calling cigarette 'squares' fits.

This is as good a reason that I've heard than any other one.

Actually, the only other reason that I've heard for this colloquial term is that the packages that cigarettes come in are square- well, they're almost square.

I wish the reason was because the general consensus was {is} that only 'squares' {un-hip people} smoke. But I don't think this the reason.