|  | Public Health Safety | Smoking

Types of Smoking Tobacco

Smoking tobacco is a very common habit indulged by people all around the world. There are a few different, popular ways in which to smoke tobacco. These methods are a danger to a person's health. Smoke is damaging to cells on the human body, no matter in which form it is packaged. However, it is said some forms of smoking tobacco are less harmful than others.

  1. Cigarettes

    • Manufactured cigarettes are the most popular forms of smoking tobacco worldwide. They are made by machine and put together using shredded or re-used tobacco along with lots of different chemicals. They also contain nicotine, which can make them very addictive. Cigarette tobacco can also be sold separately and used by the customer to roll their own cigarettes. Cigarettes come under heavy criticism from health experts as they are said to take 10 to 12 years off the human life expectancy for those who continually use them, leaving a user susceptible to illnesses of the lungs, heart, throat, kidneys and mouth.

    Cigars

    • Cigars are made up of tobacco that has been air-cured and fermented. The filling is held together in a wrapper that also made from tobacco. Cigars can come in a variety of sizes, though generally they are bigger than cigarettes. They were previously thought of as an item smoked by wealthier, older men. However, trends have changed in recent years with much younger people, including women, taking to casual smoking of cigars. They are said to be a safer alternative to cigarettes because the user should not inhale when smoking a cigar, meaning no smoke reaches the lungs. However, they are still a danger to a person's health and can still cause cancer in and around the mouth.

    Pipe

    • Pipe tobacco is normally a blend of tobaccos that may also contain different kinds of additives. Pipes are made from a variety of different materials. The user places a flame directly onto the tobacco and smokes the fumes through a hole. They are also thought to be a safer alternative to cigarettes because the smoke does not have to be inhaled by the user. However, cancer of the lip is more prevalent in pipe smokers than any other form of tobacco smoking.

    Bidis

    • Bidis are the most popular form of smoking tobacco in India. They have a only a small amount of tobacco, which is wrapped in dried temburni leaves. They can come in either flavored or unflavored form and are imported into the United States from South Asia. Bidis are said to have a higher concentration of tar and nicotine than manufactured cigarettes. The user usually has to smoke it harder to keep it alight.

    Kreteks

    • Kreteks are clove-flavored cigarettes that are common to, and imported from, Indonesia. They have are a wide range of flavorings and contain eugenol, which is an oil found in cloves that causes an anesthetic effect, meaning the user can take a bigger inhale. Like bidis, they contain a higher concentration of tar and nicotine than regular cigarettes.

Smoking - Related Articles