Adverse Effects Of Cigar Smoking

This article began with a Web search for “cigar smoking”. The results were astounding – more than 2,500 pages, most of those promotional sites extolling the virtues of smoking cigars.

Perhaps the most appalling are the sites devoted to women and cigars. There are sites that tell women in no uncertain terms that smoking cigars will make them sexually attractive, and turn them into glamorous, high-powered executives. No wonder cigars are becoming popular among women.

It’s not just on the Web. Male and female celebrities, the ultimate role models for our young people, are now seen enjoying cigars in movies and television. This massive marketing campaign by cigar makers has transformed the image of the old stogie into a desirable, sophisticated status symbol.

The campaign is working. By some estimates, cigar smoking has increased by at least half since 1993. The biggest increase in cigar smoking is among white men, age 18-44. It’s become a billion dollar industry; about 12 million Americans are cigar smokers.

All the hype seems to have masked the truth about cigars – that they are just as bad for you as cigarettes, and probably worse if you inhale or smoke several cigars daily. The National Institutes of Health says cigar smoking causes oral cancer, (which can be extremely gruesome and disfiguring) and cancer of the esophagus and larynx, as well as lung cancer.

It may also cause pancreatic cancer, a particularly deadly form of cancer. As with cigarettes, a cigar habit puts you at higher risk of heart disease and chronic obstructive lung disease. The risks for all these diseases are increased substantially by smoking as few as one or two cigars a day.

Meanwhile, think about those of us who are downstream. Cigars are much bigger than cigarettes and contain most of the same poisons and toxins that spew out into the air when you light up. You may not inhale, but the people around you are still being exposed to the hundreds of dangerous chemicals burning with your cigar. The government estimates that 30,000 – 60,000 deaths each year in this country are cause by secondhand cigar and cigarette smoke.

Cigars contain nicotine and nicotine is addictive. Even if you don’t inhale, you can get hooked on cigars. Quitting is just as tough as cigarettes.

Still think cigar smoking is glamorous and sophisticated?