Is changing from cigarettes to cigars a viable alternative to quitting smoking?

Quitting smoking is pretty tough. Really tough for some, and there are those who look for alternatives to stopping smoking, hoping that there is a healthier alternative to quitting smoking that doesn’t actually involve - quitting smoking.

One of these is changing from cigarettes to cigars or a pipe. Here we’ll look at the question is changing from cigarettes to cigars a good alternative to stopping smoking?

Firstly lets have a look at what cigars are to see if they are any different to cigarette smoking, and any healthier.

The bottom line is that cigars are made from tobacco just like cigarettes are, and tobacco itself is a large part of the problem. The tobacco used in cigars is treated differently than the tobacco used in cigarettes, but it is still tobacco.

The tobacco used in cigars is treated by allowing it to mature for around 12 months and then fermented for up to 6 months to create bacterial and chemical changes that alter the taste of the tobacco. Hence the preference by some people for cigars over cigarettes, they taste different.

However cigars still contain nicotine because they contain tobacco, and that is where the nicotine comes from. So as nicotine is the substance that causes the smoking addiction, cigars are still addictive. In fact one large cigar can contain enough tobacco that, if it were used to make cigarettes instead, could manufacture an entire packet of cigarettes. So smoking one large cigar can be the equivalent of smoking an entire pack of cigarettes. More on Perhaps I Should Smoke Cigars Instead?