FORMS OF TOBACCO: CIGARS AND BIDIS

Cigars

Those big stogies that we see celebrities and government figures puffing on these days are really nothing more than tobacco fillers wrapped in more tobacco. Since 1991, cigar sales in the United States have increased by 250 percent, and we have been witness to what many refer to as a growing cigar culture. This growing fad has sparked the creation of special upscale smoking lounges and is especially popular among young men and women, fueled in part by the efforts of the tobacco industry to glamorize cigars and the willingness of famous celebrities to be photographed puffing on one. Among some women, an impulse to be slightly outrageous and liberated from old restrictions and stereotypes is symbolized by cigar smoking. Also, many people continue to believe that cigars are safer than cigarettes, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Though most premium cigars contain only pure tobacco and no additives, the smoke from cigars contains 23 poisons and 43 carcinogens. Clearly, any argument about the safety of cigars is, well, a smokescreen.

Smoking as little as one cigar per day can increase the risk of several cancers, including cancer of the oral cavity (lip, tongue, mouth, and throat), esophagus, larynx, and lungs. Daily cigar smoking, especially for people who inhale, also increases the risk of heart disease (cigar smokers double their risk of heart attack and stroke) and a type of lung disease known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Smoking one or two cigars doubles the risk for oral cancers and esophageal cancer, compared with risk for someone who has never smoked. The risks associated with cigar smoking increase with the number of cigars smoked per day.

A common question asked is whether cigars are addictive. Most cigars have as much nicotine as several cigarettes and regardless of whether a smoker inhales or not, nicotine is highly addictive. When cigar smokers inhale, nicotine is absorbed as rapidly as it is with cigarettes. For those cigar smokers who don't inhale, nicotine is still absorbed through the mucous membranes in the mouth, although more slowly.

Bidis

Bidis are small hand-rolled, flavored cigarettes, generally made in India or Southeast Asia. They come in a variety of flavors, such as vanilla, chocolate, and cherry, and cost 2 - 4 dollars for a pack of 20. Bidis look similar to a marijuana joint or a clove cigarette and have become increasingly popular with teens and college students, who view them as safer, cheaper, and easier to obtain than cigarettes. However, research shows that bidis are far more toxic than cigarettes. A study by the Massachusetts Department of Health found bidis produced three times more carbon monoxide and nicotine and five times more tar than cigarettes during an identical testing process. The tendu leaf wrappers are nonporous, meaning that smokers have to pull harder to inhale and inhale more to keep the bidi lit. During testing, it took an average of 28 puffs to smoke a bidi, compared to only 9 puffs for a regular cigarette. This results in much more exposure to the higher levels of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide, and bidis lack any sort of filter to lessen the levels. Research clearly indicates that bidi smokers are at the same, if not higher, risk for coronary heart disease and a variety of cancers due to smoking.

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