Topic Overview

Cigars and pipe tobacco are not as addictive or as harmful as cigarettes. But they still carry their own health risks. Consider that:

• People who smoke cigars daily are 1 to 4 times more likely to develop lung cancer than people who do not smoke.
• The risks of cancer of the mouth, tongue, gums, and lips (called oral cancer) and cancer of the voice box (larynx) or esophagus are about the same for people who smoke cigars or pipes 5 times a day as they are for people who smoke cigarettes.
• The risks of lung disease (emphysema and chronic bronchitis) and heart disease are lower for people who smoke cigars than for people who smoke cigarettes but higher than for people who do not smoke.