Many politicians and anti-smoking advocates state that “smoking” is bad for you but do not clarify that usually the information and science they are quoting is about cigarettes. When challenged they then say the second-hand smoke from cigars is as bad or worse than the second-hand smoke from cigarettes. If one mentions that cigars are not inhaled and cigarettes are, they then try a new tactic and say smoking cigars can cause mouth or throat cancer, but they refuse to give the science or facts behind their claims because it does not fit their narrative. If they are really start to lose the plot, they argue with their last breath (pun intended) that “no amount of smoking is healthy” and leave it at that.
This article reviews the measurable health risks of premium cigar smoking vs. cigarette smoking.
Let’s assume for the purpose of this article and to compare the health risks related to smoking cigarettes and premium cigars that a person is smoking their cigar outside or in a well-ventilated cigar lounge where second hand smoke is not a factor.
Cigarette smokers in Canada consumed on average of 13 cigarettes per day. Health Canada does not track how many people smoke cigars so they obviously have no idea how many cigars the average cigar smoker smokes. To get an idea of how many premium cigars a Canadian cigar smokes per day, one must look to the US market. American “premium cigar users smoked an average of 0.1 (IQR: 0.03–0.3) sticks per day” or less than 1 a week.
A premium cigar takes an hour or longer to enjoy and a cigarette takes a few minutes and 4 or 5 can be smoked in the same time depending on how long your smoke break is.
Nicotine Absorption
Nicotine on its own is arguably harmful. We have reviewed nicotine as health issue or mental health benefit in other articles in cigarnews.ca but what seems consistent is that it is addictive and causes addictive behavior.
Scientific analysis consistently shows that cigars contain significantly more tobacco per unit than cigarettes probably because they are larger. A cigar also gives off more second hand smoke than a cigarette for the same reason and because they are often humid and burn slower than a cigarette.
Focusing on what the body absorbs from the firsthand smoke. Cigars have much more nicotine in them but the body’s absorption of nicotine compared to cigarettes is surprisingly similar.
A typical cigarette delivers approximately 1 mg of absorbed nicotine into the smoker’s bloodstream when inhaled as it is absorbed in the lungs. The amount of nicotine absorbed by the body though the mouth and saliva from a premium cigar is approximately 1 to 4 mg depending on the size. That means that the body absorbs a similar amount of nicotine from one medium premium cigar as it does with one or two cigarettes.
The main reason for the similar nicotine absorption rates is that cigarettes are inhaled and cigars are not.
When one considers the number of cigarettes the average cigarette smokers smokes per week compared to the average cigar smoker, a Canadian cigarette smoker has 90 plus cigarettes a week and a premium cigar smoker has one 1 cigar a week.
That means, on average, a cigarette smoker gets 90 mg of nicotine per week compared to the 1 mg of nicotine the average cigar smoker. This is why cigar smokers are not as addicted to cigars and why the health risks from cigars must be much lower in cigars as compared to cigarettes. This may be a reason that Health Canada does not track premium cigar smokers and their daily usage. Ignorance is blind.
Additional Additives
Premium cigars are natural leaves rolled and smoked with usually no additives. Anti-smoking advocates often suggest that cigarettes have over 600 additives added to increase addiction, enjoyment and longevity of the product. Many of the additives are harmful.
Anti-smoking advocates know that cigars are much if not completely a pure natural product and cigarettes are not. They know that cigars are not inhaled and cigarettes are. They know that cigar smokers smoke very little and cigarette smokers smoke all day everyday. They know that cigar smoking is not as bad for you as smoking cigarettes. By every measurable metric and common sense this is true.
They counter these arguments by focusing on the second-hand smoke from both products. The only argument they have is that smoke from both cigarettes and cigars is not good for you to breath in. Agreed. Cigar smokers do not want to inhale second-hand smoke.
If the government allowed well ventilated cigar lounges and smoking in parks and open public spaces, cigar smokers would have almost no exposure to the second-hand smoke. Effective, government policy and antismoking advocates are forcing adults to smoke their premium cigars in unsafe and unhealthy environment in the name of health advocacy.
Follow the Science
The question is when will politicians and scientists look at the facts and the science. One way to get people to do avoid unhealthy habits or products is education. If you educate people to the real dangers, they can make informed healthy choices. The problem with all levels of government, particularly Health Canada, is that they either ignore the facts and science or refuse to study the health risks of premium cigars in Canada. Until they do, cigar smokers are going to continue to smoke in unhealthy environments and buy their cigars from other countries.