Myth: Cigar smoking and chewing tobaccos are safe because you don't inhale.
Fact: It's not only cigarette smoke that can kill you. Overall cancer death rates among men who smoke cigars are 34 percent higher than cancer death rates among nonsmokers, according to the American Lung Association. Cigar smokers have higher death rates from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and are four to 10 times more likely to die from cancers of the throat, mouth, lips, larynx, and esophagus than nonsmokers, the National Cancer Institute reports.
People who chew tobacco don't get off lightly either. If you chew tobacco, you're more likely to get oral cancer, which affects the tongue, lips, cheeks, and gums. Moreover, a 1995 study of 6,300 smokeless tobacco users reported in the American Journal of Public Health that they were twice as likely as nonusers to die of heart disease.
