Think smoking cigars is not as bad as smoking cigarettes?

FACT: A cigar has considerably more nicotine and tar than a cigarette. Amounts vary with size and type of cigar.

FACT: Cigar smoke produces 30 times more carbon monoxide than cigarette smoke.

FACT: death rates are 34% higher for cigar smokers than nonsmokers. Cigar smokers are 3 – 5 times more likely than nonsmokers to die of lung cancer.

FACT: Cigar smokers have higher rates of mouth, tongue, throat and voice box cancer than cigarette smokers. One study found that 90% of cigar smokers have precancerous changes in cells of their voice box.

FACT: Tobacco smoke does not have to be inhaled into the lungs to affect the heart and circulation. Nicotine is absorbed by the lining of the mouth and throat whether or not the smoker inhales.

FACT: People who switch from cigarettes to cigars tend to smoke cigars like cigarettes. They inhale deeply and smoke often. Smaller thin cigars have higher levels of harmful substances than cigarettes. A person who inhales cigar smoke is at greater risk of lung and heart disease than a cigarette smoker.

FACT: A cigar can produce 25 times as much secondhand smoke as a cigarette. Secondhand cigar smoke is more poisonous than secondhand cigarette smoke. The smoke from one cigar equals three cigarettes’ worth of smoke.

Source: ETR Associates brochure "Cigars"