I was wondering if any of you could help me with a little information.
I am 22 and have smoked cigars since I was 18, but only until the last year did I ramp it up to about 4 or 5 a week. I'm probably on 1 a day in the last month and don't feel addicted in any way on days when I don't smoke. I in no way want to 'quit' (its not a habit, its a past time). But I am concerned about being young and smoking cigars this early in life. In other words if I'm smoking around 5 a week is there really anything to orry about? Thanks! -Chase

Life is short. We all die. Have some fun.

You're asking a bunch a cigar smokers whether cigars are bad for you. Either they're not or we don't care. Either way, smoke up.

Depends on what you smoke.

Premium cigars probably won't do much harm if you do not inhale, have regular dental and medical checkups, smoke in a well ventilated area, and stay out of the military.

George Burns, Groucho Marx, Stanford Newman, were all life long cigar smokers and lived to be very old men.

Guys like Marty Feldman and Andy Kaufman never smoked and died young.

It also has to do with genetics and dumb luck.

We are all gonna die of somethin, might as well enjoy what you like while you can. Star athletes drop dead of heart attacks in their 20s and havent smoked a day in their life, there is no telling whats going to happen to you, so dont fear living, embrace it! Grab another cigar and light up!

You are no doubt putting your health at risk to a certain degree. As life is full of risk, as an adult, only you can decide for yourself if the (probably minimal) increased risk of oral/pharyngal/laryngal cancer is worth it to you. There is some reason to believe the risks of less than one cigar/day are minimal, though not insignificant, according to the following, which I personally have found helpful:

www.cigargroup.com/faq/health/ncifaq.htm

One caveat from the article worth keeping in mind is that cigars plus heavy alcohol use may multiply the risks.

For myself I figure that if Sigmund Freud smoked 15-20 cigars/day for over 50 years before he got throat cancer in his 80's, (not a bad trade off if you asked me.), I can probably get away with one a day, though I know that there are no guarentees. One things for sure, we've all got to go sometime, and to me cigars help me appreciate more my time alive on this most interesting planet.

Thanks everyone. I would probably still smoke even if they killed me next week, well maybe not, but to me its worth any possible health risks.

Just read that link.

"The NCI reports that at 1-2 cigars per day, there is a lower overall risk of developing lung cancer compared to the non-smoking population (0. 99 relative risk.)Since the overwhelming majority of cigar smokers smoke fewer than 1 cigar a day and don't inhale, the majority of cigar smokers appear to be protected from developing lung cancer."

Huh?