Cigars: Facts, stats and regulations

Cigars are defined in the United States tax code as “any roll of tobacco wrapped in leaf tobacco or in any substance containing tobacco” that does not meet the definition of a cigarette.

At least three major cigar products — little cigars, large cigars, and cigarillos — exist in the category.

HEALTH EFFECTS

Cigars cost lives and pose significant economic costs. 

  • A 2014 study found that cigar smoking was responsible for approximately 9,000 premature deaths among adults aged 35 and older in the U.S. These deaths represented almost 140,000 years of potential life lost and monetary loss of $22.9 billion. A 2019 study found that the removal of flavored cigars from the market would result in an estimated 800 fewer cigar smoking-attributable deaths in the U.S. each year and 112,000 fewer cigar smokers in each cohort of 18 year olds.

  • Cigar smoking is associated with a higher risk of oral, esophageal, laryngeal, and lung cancer. Cigar smokers have a marked increase in risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and experience higher mortality from COPD than do non-smokers.

  • Though cigar smoke is generally similar to cigarette smoke, it contains higher levels of harmful constituents including tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), NNK, carbon monoxide (CO), ammonia, and tar.

  • Secondhand cigar smoke contains dangerous compounds and chemicals that pose significant health problems to cigar smokers and non-smokers. Cigar smoke contains higher concentrations of toxic and carcinogenic compounds than cigarette smoke.

  • Most cigar smokers do inhale some amount of smoke and are unaware that they are doing it, even among those who do not intend to inhale. Regardless of how much inhalation actually takes place, studies show that because cigar smoke dissolves more easily in saliva than cigarette smoke, cigar users absorb smoke and nicotine from cigars even when they report no inhalation. Young consumers usually inhale the smoke of Black & Mild cigars, unlike large cigar smoke. Small cigar smoking is associated with smoke inhalation that leads to significant exposure to nicotine, carbon monoxide, and presumably other components of tobacco smoke. Removing the inner paper liner does not substantially reduce toxin exposure.

Cigars: Facts, stats and regulations (truthinitiative.org) - Link to Full Article

Jordan Moss