Why Quit Smoking?

Cigar smoking is now becoming a popular trend in the United States. In fact, it can already be considered as a subculture of so-called sophisticated and refined tobacco connoisseurs. There are magazines, shops, and bars that are dedicated solely for this interest. Tobacco companies have been capitalizing on this new trend by introducing glamour to what used to be a hard-to-curtail habit.

Is Cigar Smoking Really That Attractive?
The tobacco industry is investing a lot on advertisements, hiring celebrities who influence people to try cigars as an alternative to cigarettes. This trend dates from the time when gourmet coffee was popularized among the twenty-something crowd. Because most cigar smokers are young middle-aged men in their golden years, it suddenly became associated with financial stability and success.

Recently a popular blog claimed that cigar smoking is “boss,” but it is hard to see how smoking any form of tobacco an excellent pr boss activity.

There is a prevailing misconception that cigar smoking is safer and less addictive compared to cigarettes. The truth of the matter is that cigars and cigarettes are made up of the same compounds, chiefly of which, is nicotine.

Nicotine Affects Both Cigarette and Cigar Smokers
Nicotine is the cause of tobacco addiction. Once it is absorbed by the body through lungs or through the lining of the mouth, you get to develop a regular craving for it accompanied by the health hazards it will cause.

Most cigar smokers do not inhale the smoke. They let the smoke linger inside their mouth instead. Some people do it with the hopes of eliminating the risk of lung diseases caused by smoking. What they don’t know is that letting the nicotine gets absorbed by the body through the mouth lining and gets dissolved in the saliva poses more danger such as pancreatic cancer.

Aside from that, a single large cigar actually contains the same amount of tobacco as a whole pack of cigarettes. Most cigar smokers aren’t fully aware of this. In fact, another popular alternative to cigars are cigarillos or little cigars which are of the same dimension as cigarettes. The only difference is that it is brown in color and the fact that it contains more nicotine in it. Since people can only judge from the surface, cigar smokers would usually consume it the way they would consume cigarettes.

It may be true that cigar smoking may enhance some people’s perception of an individual at this time. But what of it without an assurance of a healthy mind and body in the near future? Eventually, these self-images that we have for ourselves will fade away, just as the cigar ashes fall off between our fingers.