[ul]To be more specific, lets use 3 people as guinea pigs.
[li]Person AA smokes cigarettes, only. [/li][li]Person BB smokes cigars, only.[/li][li]Person CC smokes a pipe, only.[/ul][/li]
Each person smokes the same amount of tobacco, by weight, as the other people do. A quarter-ounce sounds like a good figure to use. Therefore, each person smokes a quarter ounce of tobacco, per day.
I’m sure there are variables according to what type of tobacco is used, but let’s assume for the sake of the experiment, that the stock is the same for all three methods.
Filters, AFAIK, are commonly used in cigarettes and pipes, but rarely cigars. I doubt that the filters have a significant impact on reducing toxins, though. I am undecided whether or not to include filters in this experiment.
So…Which method of smoking is the least harmful?
PS: I have long assumed that the pipe (with filter) is the least harmful of the three. I happen to enjoy cigars the most, but in moderation, e.g. about three a month.
I believe your supposition is correct. The Pipe smoker will stay healthiest, but it’s a slim margin over the Cigar smokers. Pipe and Cigar smokers don’t tend to inhale as deeply as the cigarette smokers do. I’m thinking that the Cigar smoker is going to inhale just a bit more than the pipe smoker. Cigarette smokers get lung cancers, while the cigar and pipe afficionado’s tend toward mouth and throat cancers. Decisions, Decisions.
I question your assumption that filtered cigars and pipes are “common” I’ve never seen a filtered cigar. Some have wooden pr plastic mouthpieces, but they don’t filter the smoke. I don’t think the pipe filters are very popular, they gum up and inhibit the draw.
BTW I bought myself a pipe today, Normally I hand roll cigarettes, and do enjoy an occasional cigar.
Pipes go out if you don’t puff and draw on them. “I” think it’s the many chemicals they put in to cigarettes that cause the damage, not the tabacco. Could be wrong.
You’re right about pipe filters, but in fairness to the OP, he said that cigars are rarely filtered, not commonly. Also I’m not sure its correct to assume a consistant amount of tobbaco. Cigars certainly contain more tobacco than cigarettes, but cigarette smokers, on average, smoke alot more. I’m not sure about quantity with pipes, but I doubt its equal with either of the others. Its like the old argument about marijuana vs tobacco. You can’t compare a joint to a cig, because I’ve never met a pot head that smokes 20-30 joints a day, whereas a pack to a pack and a half is not uncommon for cigarettes.
You’re right, I gave myself a dope slap for misreading that part of the OP.
You’re also right, 5 HT, about the methods not using equal tobacco. The OP postulates each user consuming equal amounts, so if we use a baseline of thirty cigarettes, the Cigar smoker gets maybe Three stogies, or Ten Cigarrillos, and the Pipe smoker gets about 8 bowlsfull, at a guess.
I still think the Pipe smoker comes out ahead, healthwise.
I think you misread what I had written in my OP. I said filters are RARE in cigars. I have seen “mini” cigars with filters. Swisher Sweets is one brand that makes them. They are the same size as a cigarette, but taste and smell the same as their larger cigars.
I used to smoke a pipe, and enjoyed it very much. They can be a lot of hassle to maintain, though. Most people, I have encountered, find the aroma of a pipe, appealing, rather than appalling. I don’t know many people who like to smell cigar smoke. Notably, cheap “dime-store-brand” cigars usually smell/taste the worst, whereas a finer cigar can smell/taste quite pleasantly mild. My preferred cigar is Tinder Box’s “Private Stock aromatic.”
At a tobacco shop I used to frequent they had a poster which was supposedly quoting the Surgeon General’s report on smoking that stated pipe smokers live longer on average than non-smokers! Dunno if that’s true or not. Also heard that the fertilizers used to grow tobacco are a more likely suspect for causing lung cancer than the tobacco itself. Again, dunno if its true or not, but there ya have it.
There is a Surgeon General’s report, from a couple of decades ago, that showed pipe smokers lived longer than non-smokers. Because of stress. I never use a filter with my pipes, and tend to stick to English blends(no additives). While there is the chance of mouth/throat cancer (Graham Chapman died of throat cancer, he was rarely seen without a pipe), it’s less than the chance of lung cancer to a cigarette smoker. So with regards to the OP, I would say Pipe longest, with cigarette least.
I also agree that the additives in cigarettes cause quite a bit of the trouble. Nasty things.