Overview

Cigars and pipe tobacco are not as addictive as cigarettes. They are also not as harmful. But they still have their own health risks.

• People who smoke cigars daily are up to 4 times more likely to get lung cancer than people who do not smoke.
• The risks of cancer of the mouth, tongue, gums, and lips (called oral cancer) and cancer of the voice box (larynx) or esophagus are about the same for people who smoke cigars or pipes 5 times a day as they are for people who smoke cigarettes.
• The risks of lung disease (emphysema and chronic bronchitis) and heart disease are lower for people who smoke cigars than for people who smoke cigarettes but are higher than for people who do not smoke.