World No Tobacco Day 2018- Different Types of Tobacco Available

Several different forms of tobacco are widely used in the United States. Cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and cigars are the most common types of tobacco. Hookah, a less common form of tobacco, has recently become increasingly popular. Check out the following links to find out more about these different forms of tobacco and the harmful effects associated with each type.

* Cigarettes

Smoking is the single greatest avoidable cause of disease and death. Every year about 438,000 Americans die as a result of smoking or inhaling second hand smoke. About 40 percent of these deaths are from cancer, 35 percent from heart disease and stroke, and 25 percent from lung disease. New studies have shown that about half of all regular cigarette smokers die of a smoking-related illness. Smoking not only harms your lungs, it negatively affects nearly every organ in the body.

* Chewing Tobacco and Snuff

The two main types of smokeless tobacco in the United States are chewing tobacco and snuff. Chewing tobacco comes in three forms; loose leaf, plug and twist. Snuff is finely ground tobacco that can be dry, moist, or in sachets (tea bag-like pouches). Smokeless tobacco is placed in the cheek or between the gum and cheek. Users then suck on the tobacco and spit out the tobacco juices, which is why smokeless tobacco is often referred to as "spit tobacco" or "spitting tobacco."

* Cigars

Cigars differ from cigarettes in both their size and the type of tobacco used. Cigars vary in size and shape and can be up to 7 inches long. Large cigars contain 5-17 grams of tobacco and can take 1-2 hours to smoke, while the average cigarette contains about 1 gram and take about 10 minutes to smoke. Cigars contain about 100-200 milligrams of nicotine, while cigarettes average about 8.4 milligrams. Premium cigars can each contain the tobacco equivalent of an entire pack of cigarettes. Because of their size, smoking a cigar is like smoking 3-8 cigarettes.

* Hookah

Hookah or water pipe smoking has been practiced for over 400 years, and is often a social activity. There are a variety of names for hookahs, including narghile, argileh, shisha, hubble-bubble, and goza. Hookah tobacco is available is many flavors such as apple, grape, mint and cappuccino.