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Researchers also noted the public may think cigar smoking is a safer and less addictive alternative to cigarettes. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, cancer deaths among cigar smokers are 34 percent higher than among nonsmokers. They also state cigar smoking causes cancers of the larynx, oral cavity, esophagus, and lungs. Just like cigarettes, cigars contain nicotine.

A 1996 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found an estimated six million US teenagers aged 14-19 had smoked at least one cigar within the past year.

Here are some other facts about cigars and their usage:


The carcinogens and cancer-producing chemicals found in cigarettes are also present in cigars.

Cigar smokers have three times the risk of developing lung cancer than nonsmokers, according to a 1985 study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI).

Cigar smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to suffer from persistent coughs, phlegm, and are at increased risk of peptic ulcers, according to a 1987 issue of The American Journal of Public Health.

Concentrations in tar and nicotine are much higher in cigars than cigarettes, according to a study in a 1988 edition of Preventative Medicine. In a presentation at a June 1998 American Cancer Society conference on the health risks of cigar smoking, scientist Jack Henningfield, PhD, vice president of research and health policy at Pinney Associates noted the amounts of nicotine in cigars. "A study of 10 cigar types showed that cigars contain amounts of nicotine ranging (on the low end) from that equivalent to a single cigarette to (on the high end) that equivalent to an entire pack of cigarettes. Most cigars contain nicotine in quantities equivalent to several cigarettes," he said.

Exposure to secondhand cigar smoke carries the same risks as exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke, according to an article in the January 10, 1995 edition of TheWashington Post.

Cigar packages bear no warning from the Surgeon General, as cigarette packages do.

The 1990 Budget Reconciliation Act taxes cigars at a federal level of $1.125 per thousand, which equals less than a penny each.