Most pipe and cigar smokers don't inhale the smoke. Because they don't inhale, particles and noxious gases don't bombard their lungs and seep into their blood stream. As a result, their chance of developing coronary heart disease or severe lung disease such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and lung cancer are less than those who smoke cigarettes. When smokers of pipes and cigars do inhale, their chances of developing serious heart and lung disease are even higher than cigarette smokers. There is a special danger for cigarette smokers who switch to pipes and cigars.
Some studies show that smokers who switch have established patterns of inhaling.
These smokers are more likely to inhale tobacco smoke. In addition, often the ex-cigarette smoker eventually returns to cigarettes. Even tobacco smoke that is not inhaled has negative effects. Inhaling is not necessary to produce the harmful effects of smoke. Smoke lingers outside the mouth and can travel inside the throat and windpipe and into the upper breathing passages.