According to the latest research, cigar smoking is on the rise. According to two reports released last week, cigar smoking has increased by 50 percent among adults and teenagers between 1993 and 1997.

This is a problem according to recent research that suggests that cigar smoking represents a growing public health threat.

According to Dr. Frank Baker, who works with the American Cancer Society, cigar smoking is a serious issue that is not recognized.

"Cigar smoking is a risky activity, and I don't think people realize it," said Baker in an interview with Reuters Health.

In addition to simply being a health risk, cigar smoking has also been linked to other dangerous behaviors in younger adults. According to a study done by Dr. A. Lindsay Frazier, a doctor at Harvard Medical School, adolescents who smoke cigars are 20 times more likely to smoke cigarettes. The study also found that boys who smoke cigars were 35 times more likely to binge drink.

Baker feels that cigar smoking is an addictive habit. His claim is that even though most cigar smokers do not inhale the smoke, they are still absorbing nicotine in their mouths. Nicotine has been proven in repeated scientific studies to be an addictive chemical.

"We've actually found that people do become addicted to cigars," said Heather Gruenig Duvall, the Tobacco Education Program director at the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency.

Cigar smoking has also been known to lead to many diseases commonly associated with cigarettes, according to Duvall.

According to Duvall, cigar smokers have a 68 percent higher risk of dying from lung cancer than those who have never used tobacco.

"We talk to people that say that they don't inhale when they smoke cigars, so they think that they're O.K.," said Duvall. "That couldn't be farther from the truth. Some smoke is inhaled and you still have a high risk of mouth and other cancers. Your body is still absorbing the nicotine."

Cigar smoking is also linked to several cancers, including oral cavity cancer, male breast cancer, kidney cancer and colo-rectal cancer.

In addition, Duvall links cigar smoking to several heart diseases, including heart attack, emphysema and stroke. She connects nicotine to the disease because it has been know to constrict blood vessels.

These results are disputed by Clarence Ingram, the owner of CJ's Cigar Shop at 334 N. Center Street, who feels that the reports are exaggerated.

"There are a lot of inaccuracies about cigars," said Ingram. "For example, when they say that smoking one cigar is like smoking 14 to 16 cigarettes, that is very misleading. A lot of smokers smoke a pack or two per day, when cigar smokers when cigar smokers don't smoke near than many cigars. I don't know too many chain cigar smokers."

Ingram has done his own studies comparing the ingredients of cigars and cigarettes. While a cigar contains only a wrapper, binder and filler, cigarettes contains ammonia, cadium, ethyl acetate, heptanoic acid, arsenic, formaldehyde and 589 other additives.

"Cigarettes contain a lot of poisons that cigars just don't have," said Ingram.

Ingram feels that moderation is the key.

"Everything is moderation," said Ingram. "A few years ago people were saying that alcohol was bad for you. Now they are saying that a glass of wine per day is actually healthy."

Duvall disagrees with Ingram.

"There are once a week cigar smokers out on the golf course that think because they smoke in moderation they aren't at risk," said Duvall. "The question they need to face is 'am I really willing to take that chance'?

"They might say that George Burns smoked and lived to over 100. But each body is different and what doesn't kill on person might easily kill another. Just ask the people who die from second-hand smoke."

Ingram stresses that he isn't saying that cigar smoking is the healthiest activity.

"I'm not saying that cigar smoking is completely healthy," said Ingram. "But to say that smoking a cigar is not a safer alternative to smoking a cigarette is just wrong. There are some risks, but I think that a lot of the tests being done are biased. Many of them are done by people who want to ban tobacco completely."

The questions that Duvall asks people are simple.

"Are you ready to orphan your family?" said Duvall. "Do you really want to gamble them away?"

Reprinted by permission of The Turlock Journal.