Lower rates of lung cancer among cigar and pipe smokers are attributable to the fact that pipe and cigar smokers consume less tobacco on average than cigarette smokers, and not because cigars and pipe tobacco are less harmful. While numerous studies have documented cigarette-related health risks over the past 30 years, cigars and pipes have until recently escaped scientific scrutiny. The risks of cigars and pipe tobacco should therefore be equally reflected in tobacco control legislation. A 1998 report by the National Cancer Institute of the US Department of Health and Human Services concluded that cigar smoking causes oral, esophagal, laryngeal and lung cancers. In addition, the US report also concluded that regular cigar smokers who inhale, particularly those who smoke several cigars per day, have an increased risk of coronary heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Tobacco kills four million people annually.
According to IARC, lung cancer, caused in large measure by tobacco, accounts for over a million of these deaths.