|
Dear Readers,
Last week, with permission, I began discussion
of a paper published by The Trustees of Indiana
University in the hopes that it will warn off adults
and kids who may be smoking pipes and cigars believing
that they "safer" to use than cigarettes
because no Surgeon General's warning appears on
cigar containers. Well, they're not...not by a long-shot.
A recent report published by the
Centers for Disease Control indicated that 6 million
youth ages 14-19 had smoked a cigar in the past
year, 1.7 million of these youth were females. Students
in grades 9-12 who used other tobacco products were
most likely to report smoking cigars. Youth in surveys
conducted in New York state also reported no difficulty
in buying cigars.
According to an Indiana Prevention
Resource Center survey, nearly one-in-ten sixth
graders have smoked a cigar at least once, as have
one-fourth of eighth graders, and half of high school
seniors. Twelve percent of eighth graders and one-quarter
of high school seniors smoke cigars at least once
a month. As expected, there was a significant gender
difference in cigar smoking rates, with male rates
much higher than the female rates. However, the
lifetime and annual rates for females were unexpectedly
high, indicating that female youth are experimenting
with cigar smoking. Among male high school seniors,
67% had smoked a cigar at least once; 40.5% smoked
a cigar at least once in the month prior to the
survey. Among female high school seniors, 33.4%
had smoked a cigar at least once; 13.2% had smoked
a cigar at least once in the month prior to the
survey.
Cigars and pipes are not a safe
alternative to cigarettes. Cigars can contain 7
times more tar and 4 times more nicotine than cigarettes.
Particle emissions from one cigar may be more than
those of three cigarettes, and the amount of carbon
monoxide produced by one cigar can be 30 times higher
than cigarettes. Nicotine can cause irregular or
skipped heart beats, an increase in blood pressure,
a decreased tolerance for exercise or exertion,
a tendency for clotting, and vasoconstriction. One
study showed that pipe smokers had almost the same
coronary heart disease risk as cigarette smokers.
Another study demonstrated that pipe smokers had
a higher mortality rate from coronary heart disease,
and 40% more deaths from all causes.
Cigar smokers have up to twice the
rate of cough and phlegm as nonsmokers. Use of tobacco
can cause or worsen the effects of Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma, emphysema, and
decrease lung function.
Tobacco secretions stain teeth and
cause sores in the mouth and gums. These lesions
can be precancerous, including leukoplakia also
called "smoker's white patch," and erythroplakia,
a red, velvety lesion. Cigar and pipe smoking may
also cause "hairy tongue." In 1996 alone
over 8,000 people died from oral cancer, the primary
causes of which are tobacco and alcohol use. The
National Cancer Institute says that were it not
for tobacco use, oral cancer would be almost nonexistent
as a cause of death. Oral cancer, the sixth most
common cancer in the world can develop in any part
of the mouth, most commonly on the lips, tongue,
roof, or floor of the mouth, pharynx or esophagus.
Pipe smokers are particularly prone to cancer of
the lip.
Cigars and pipes use black (air-cured)
tobacco, which carries a higher risk of causing
esophageal cancer than the tobacco used for cigarettes.
Even for pipe and cigar smokers who say they "don't
inhale," the risk of lung cancer is still four
times greater than that of nonsmokers.
One study showed a significant increase
in colon and rectal cancer, not only in cigarette,
but in pipe and cigar smokers. The study suggests
that tobacco is responsible for 16% of colon cancer
and 22% of rectal cancer deaths.
Should we welcome new smoker's restaurants
and tobacco stores? I think not!
|
