When you think tobacco, you think cigarettes. But there are other forms of tobacco that are harmful, as well. We've put together a list, along with the hazardous effects. But first, take the Cig Quiz to see how much you really know about cigarettes and smoking.

• Addiction potential? Cigars contain anywhere from 100 to 444 mg of nicotine. The average cigarette contains 8.4 mg. ²
• Compared to non-smokers, cigar smokers have a 27% higher risk of coronary heart disease and a 45% increased risk of chronic obstructive lung diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis.³
• Download a fact sheet.
• Little cigars (Black & Milds, Cigarillos): Download a fact sheet.

Spit Tobacco

• Spit tobacco actually contains three to four times more nicotine than cigarettes.⁴
• The risk of cancer of the cheek and gum may reach nearly 50-fold among long-term snuff users as compared to non-users.⁵
• Download a fact sheet.

Bidis (pronouned beedis or beedies)
Bidis are small brown cigarettes, often flavored, consisting of tobacco hand rolled in tendu or temburni leaf and secured with a string at one end.

• One bidi produces more than three times the amount of carbon monoxide and contains more than three times the amount of nicotine and more than five times the amount of tar than one cigarette. ⁶
• Download a fact sheet.

Clove Cigarettes or Kreteks
Kreteks, the Indonesian name for clove cigarettes, are made from tobacco that has been sprayed in clove oil and contain large amounts of tobacco and unfiltered organic material.

• Kreteks contain two to three times more nicotine and tar than American cigarette brands. ⁷
• Kretek smoking is associated with an increased risk for acute lung injury, especially among susceptible individuals with asthma or respiratory infections. ⁸
• Download a fact sheet.

Menthol Cigarettes

• Those who use mentholated cigarettes are relatively more likely to experience health consequences compared to other cigarette users due to a cooling effect that allows smokers to inhale more deeply and hold the smoke longer. They are also less likely to want to quit or to quit successfully.⁹
• Menthol cigarettes are of special concern for African-American students, because 81% of African-American smokers smoke menthol cigarettes compared to 32% of Caucasian American smokers. ¹⁰
• Download a fact sheet.

Hookahs

• Puffing a hookah can actually put more nicotine in your system than puffing a cigarette. ¹¹
• Smoking tobacco through water does not filter out cancer-causing chemicals. ¹²
• Download a fact sheet.

Sources:
1. www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_2X_Cigar_Smoking.asp
2. www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/cigars
3. www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_The_Dangers_of_Cigar_Smoking.asp
4. www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/smokeless
5. www.rdoc.org.uk/chewing_tobacco_risk.html
6. www.lungoregon.org/tobacco/bidis.html
7. www.no-smoking.org/feb02/02-05-02-1.html
8. www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/Factsheets/bidis_kreteks.htm
9. www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_2x_Questions_About_Smoking_Tobacco_and_Health.asp
10. www.americanlegacy.org/794.htm
11. Koch, W. (2005) Hookah trend is puffing along. USA Today. Retrieved September 5, 2006 from www.quitline.com/news/
12. Asotra K. (2006). “Hooked on Hookah? What you don’t know can kill you.” The Peer Educator 29(4) (Reprinted with author’s permission from the August 2005 article in Burning Issues: Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program Newsletter). Denver, Co: The BACCHUS Network^TM.