CIGAR SMOKING  and HEALTH

SInce 1993, consumption of cigars in the United States has increased by 44.5%. Past Surgeon General's Reports on the health consequences of smoking presented clear evidence that cigar smoking represents a significant health risk and is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking.  The following are estimates of cigar consumption reported in the United States and highlights of the health risks attributed to cigar use.

• Nearly 4.5 billion cigars were consumed in 1996 - the second consecutive year in which the cigar industry exceeded a billion dollars in sales.
• Production of cigars is at its highest level since the mid-1980s.  An estimated 1.5 billion small cigars were manufactured in 1996, an increase of 4% from 1995.
• An estimated 6 million (26.7 percent) U. S. teenagers, ages 14 to 19 - 4.3 million males and 1.7 million females  - smoked at least one cigar within the past year. Rates of cigar use did not vary by region within the Uniteed States.
• U. S. students in grades 9 - 12 who used other tobacco products (cigarettes, smokeless tobacco) were also more likely to report smoking cigars. Nearly three-fourths of male and one-third of female cigarette smokers reported smoking at least one cigar in the past year.
• The 1982 Surgeon General's Report on the Health Consequences of Smoking: Cancer concluded that cigar smoking causes laryngeal cancer, oral cancer, esophageal cancer, and lung cancer. Cigar smokers have four to ten times the risk of dying form laryngeal, oral, and esophageal cancers as nonsmokers.
• An increased risk for developing lung cancer has also been correlated with increased use of cigars as measured by both the amount smoked and depth of inhalation. No level of cigar smoking is without risk.
• Several prospective epidemiological studies examined the relationship between cigar smoking and mortality from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and found that cigar smokers are 1.3 to 3.6 times more likely to die from COPD than nonsmokers.

Source: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion