Susieqz's thread on vaping got me to thinking.

I smoke an occasional cigar and while it's true that cigars are not inhaled, nicotine does still get absorbed. Also since the smoke isn't inhaled, your lungs don't get gunked up with tars.

Nicotine is the best cognitive enhancer known to science. Smokers are not only able to focus better and think faster, but they have better memory, and maintain concentration hours longer than non-tobacco users in the workforce.

Nicotine is also a strong neuroprotective substance closely related to vitamin B-3, niacin(or nicotinic acid). The two are so similar, vitamin B-3 fills nicotine receptors, relieving nicotine cravings.
Nicotine is so neuroprotective, that smokers, and those that use other tobacco products are four times less likely to contract Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or dementia than non-tobacco users.

Did I mention that nicotine is not a carcinogen?
Nicotine does not cause cancer.

Smoking an occasional cigar might just be helpful in keeping my degenerative peripheral motor nerve condition from worsening.

__________________
Keep on Chooglin'

I smoked cigars for the last 10 years or so of my 35 years smoking. BUT, I always inhaled them, just like a cigarette. Smoked 'em every day too. So I was getting pretty heavy nicotine dose.

The good news is that although I was getting a substantial dose of tar in my lungs, I wasn't breathing the formaldehyde and all the other chemicals that are in cigarette tobacco. natural tobacco like in cigars isn't nearly the chemical brew that you get with cigarettes.

In the 5 years since I quit I have noticed that my memory has gotten a little worse. But I figured that was just age....

I have a good stogie every now and then.Never inhaled,but do retrohale. I don't live with one stuck in my mouth like some I know. However, when they ask me if I use tobacco on a form, I ask for clarification, or I will answer no. It's not all or nothing in my opinion..and if they really care..let them find out for themselves.

My pappy always told me volunteer nothing. He retired a full bird Colonel from the U.S.A.F. Good enough advice for me... (They do use nicotine in bug killer,by the way..)

Where tobacco was known aboriginals, at least some of them, used tobacco for medicine. If this CBD thing (isolated compound) is real perhaps an isolated compound from tobacco may prove, to some, miraculous.

A delivery mechanism that does not involve damage to the lungs or long-term contact with mucous membranes would be the best way to approach it.

__________________
On the whistle draw and fire 6

I’m 67 and last cigar I smoked was some cheap thing when I was a teen. Puked and that was it for cigars. Never took up cigs.

The cigarette tube paper is treated to burn the same as the tobacco. At least that what I was told.
It ain't the tobacco, it's the tubes that kill you.

Just keep a watch for oral cancer
I’m a diehard nicotine fan too

It's your story Snubby, and I am sticking to it. I just finished a cigar and I feel great!!

So if nicotine is a cognitive enhancer, would nicotine patches enhance my cognitive ability? I am a non smoker but now Snubby fan has me curious. I’m truly curious, not being a smart a** , as I get older I find myself getting more forgetful so anything that would help I would consider.

__________________
Jim in Iowa

I like a nice puff from time to time, but not as an everyday thing.

I'm a pipe smoker. The Surgeon General's report on smoking stated that pipe smokers have the same mortality rate as nonsmokers. I didn't learn that until I'd been smoking pipes for thirty years or so, but what the hey, I'll take it. I guess I'm something of a tobacco enthusiast in general-- I also use smokeless and nasal snuff, and will have a cigar from time to time (good ones are too expensive for everyday use).

I really like nicotine, though I don't seek out the highest content nowadays like I used to. I'm certainly addicted to it, just as I am with caffeine, but being deprived of it is not that big a deal-- I had surgery in mid-October that kept me in the hospital for three days, and I never even thought about nicotine. When I got home, it was several hours before I decided to fire up a pipe. In my cigarette days, it would not have been like that. I'd have been trying to figure out a way to sneak outside the hospital and smoke, and would have lit one the second I was released. Cigarettes are different somehow, not sure why.

I don't know that it would help much with memory problems; it's more of a boost to thinking and concentration. If you decide to try it, use the lowest dose available and be prepared to suffer some nausea at first. The nicotine chewing-gum or lozenge products might be more suitable than a patch for experimentation, as the patch can cause skin irritation.

It's also used to kill lice in chicken coops!

I'm a lifetime non smoker but like some of the other posters I'm
curious about this. I'm assuming you have some research data
to back this claim so how much Nicotine is required and how
long does the enhancement last before another dose is needed?

My cigarette and brewery stocks have always done well over time. Thank you.

Not a smoker, never have been and have no desire to even go there as I abhor the created stench.
Guess I've always been amazed at the guys seemingly 'enjoying' a cigar and to me, I would judge the item to be rat turds rolled inside tar paper and set aflame, at least by the smell.

__________________
Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

Could it be that this is due to the fact that smokers don't live long enough to develop these aging related conditions?

__________________
Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

I smoked cigs for years in my youth. Hard to quit. I've quit and thrown my pack of cigs out the window on the way home just to pick them back up an hour later on the way back out.

I finally quit cigs by dipping Copenhagen.

I got off the strong copenhagen by switching to Skoal.

I got off the Skoal by switching to Red Man.

I got off the Red Man sugar fix by switching to a plain twist or plain chewing tobacco.

Plain chew is hard to find so I switched to chewing inexpensive long filler cigars.

Then I started lighting them and smoked several per day.

I've finally pretty much quit tobacco but I do still smoke a cigar very infrequently and have some in my humidors. If I'm out somewhere and I catch a whiff of good cigar on the breeze it calls me loudly. I love the smell. A cool evening, a good bourbon and a good cigar, hard to beat!

It's a good thing tobacco isn't addictive.

“Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times.” (Mark Twain)

__________________
Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

I smoked a pipe for the last few months of my tobacco addiction too. I don't suppose you inhale? That's where I was kinda' different. I inhaled the pipe too. For anyone who inhales the smoke I doubt that the pipe is any better than cigars. I'd also expect the mortality and other health effects to be about the same.

I never figured there was any point in smoking tobacco if you didn't inhale. I could always smoke and inhale just about any tobacco product made. One time in high school I won $5 on a bet that I couldn't smoke and inhale a whole King Edward cigar - one of those greenish numbers about 4" long and the size of your thumb. I did and never even flinched.

I REALLY liked tobacco - probably why it was so hard for me to quit.

Statistics vary but I'm seeing more like 440,000
Not a whole lot better, but just sayin...

In other words a whole lot more than are killed by AR-15's in so-called "mass shootings."

__________________
Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

You're only 8 days older than me and sometimes I get forgetful.
"Okay, what'd I walk into the kitchen for?"

__________________
Keep on Chooglin'

Same thing here. I'll usually smoke one just once or twice a week.
Although, I'll usually go through at least 3 churchills on a 2 day camping trip.

__________________
Keep on Chooglin'

That's the way I am with cigars. It's been a coupla weeks since my last one. Just haven't had the time.

__________________
Keep on Chooglin'

After reading Susieqz's thread on vaping and nicotine and since I smoke cigars, I googled nicotine out of curiosity. That's 'bout all the research I did.
I was really surprised to read that nicotine doesn't cause cancer. It's the tars and all the other chemicals they put in cigarettes that do it.

__________________
Keep on Chooglin'

Some of the best tasting cigars I've smoked also had the most pungent manure and hay smell before lighting them.
I'd joke with my wife, "this one smells like cow (expletive deleted) must be a full bodied and tasty smoke."

__________________
Keep on Chooglin'

Let's see now, George Burns lived to 100+ years, cigar smoker. Winston Churchill 91 years, cigar smoker, Fidel Castro 90 years, cigar smoker, Richard Arvine Overton 112 years, oldest living war veteran, cigar smoker,
Groucho Marx outlived all of his famous brothers, cigar smoker.
There are many more out there that lived to a ripe old age and smoked cigars.

__________________
Keep on Chooglin'

Back when I smoked cigarettes, I'd inhale cigars. Not now though. I tried once and it was like hot peppers in my throat.

__________________
Keep on Chooglin'

LOL you'd never get away with such a flawed sampling in a scientific study. On a planet with a sample size of N=6 billion people....you've hand picked six who support your thesis and you infer that they are representative of all cigar smokers.

__________________
Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

And you inferred that all tobacco users died at an early age...
I do agree that cigarette smoking is the number one preventable cause of death world wide. One of the reasons that I'm glad that I quit smoking cigarettes.
With cigars, I have one occasionally.
In fact the FDA made a study of the risks involved in cigar smoking.
Their conclusions:
"However, the data indicates that consumption of up to two cigars per day, while not completely safe, is neither associated with significantly increased risks for death from all causes, nor smoking-related cancers."
And I'll generally smoke just one or two a week.

__________________
Keep on Chooglin'

I'm not really arguing with you snubbyfan. I just think that you are selectively looking at the facts and telling yourself what you want to hear. I believe that in the world of alcoholism, such behavior is called rationalization and denial. I don't think you are trying to convince anyone here that smoking is harmless...other than yourself. Ever seen a person who has had their jaw removed due to oral cancer? They may indeed have less risk of Parkinson's...BUT. One thing we can both agree upon is that NOT smoking cigars is even healthier for you...not to mention cheaper and less odoriferous.

Don't beat yourself up over it. If you wanna smoke em...smoke em

__________________
Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Watchdog, I believe the above clip is Fred Gwynne playing the character Herman Munster.

From Wikipedia: "Fred Gwynne died of complications from pancreatic cancer,[8] in the cigar room at his home in Taneytown, Maryland, on July 2, 1993, eight days short of his 67th birthday.[10] He is buried at Sandy Mount United Methodist Church Cemetery in Finksburg, Maryland.[11]

How appropriate for this thread

__________________
Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

No. It is not Fred Gwynne.

It's Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein monster, from The Bride of Frankenstein, released in 1935.

Still a funny coincidence about Fred Gwynne and cigars

Fred Gwynne And Cigar Photograph by Jan W Faul

__________________
Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

Argue? I thought we were having a light hearted lively discussion. Hmm, I guess it has to do with a persons interpretation.
I always seem to be seeing things from the bright side. That view point probably has something to do with the fact that I'm still on my feet 7 years after my Neurologist prescribed me an electric wheelchair and narcotics. It takes lotsa work and a carefully regulated diet. Smoking an occasional cigar gives me a chance to sit back and relax for an hour or so.
My condition is degenerative to my motor nerves and if something say's "neuroprotective" and can actually help or at least slow the degeneration of my motor nerves, I'm willing to weigh the pros and cons.
I've done lotsa research and the conclusions have gone to the extreme in either direction depending on what group did the "research." Anti-tobacco groups seem almost to say that just touching a cigar means instant death and pro-tobacco groups seem to say that cigar smoking (in moderation) has a negligible effect on a persons health.
Who's telling the truth?
When I found the FDA report, I read it with much interest.
Seems that while not smoking at all is healthier, an occasional cigar according to the FDA, "while not completely safe, there's no significant increase in risks for death from all causes, nor smoking-related cancers."

I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. I'll leave that to the open carry vs. concealed carry threads.....

__________________
Keep on Chooglin'

That was your first mistake.

Now you've done it.

Can you smoke a cigar while open carrying? Kinda like Clint Eastwood? Should you light it, or just chew on it?

Burning the tobacco is where most of the trouble starts. I suppose that inhaling any kind of burning plant matter produces lots of carcinogens, carbon monoxide, particulate matter etc. Now, chewing tobacco and snuff is another matter. I wouldn't caution anyone against doing that. I pretty much grew up with Skoal and Copenhagen. I used to add a pinch of baking soda to it...and that makes it hit really hard LOL. I don't disagree with snubby about tobacco having medicinal qualities. I've even found it to relieve pain.

__________________
Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

i don't know, snub.

you are flirting with a very nasty drug, even if you only absorb it thru mouth tissues.
you may have special circumstances but you impy others can safely follow your lead.
considering the constant battle i have had, i gotta say nicotine is too dangerous to mess with.

by the way, vaping smells ever so much nicer than cigars.

__________________
susie

The benefits stated (dubiously, and I really hope tongue-in-cheek, because every adult should know better...) probably result from feeding your addiction to nicotine - an addiction no less harmful (and just as powerful) as the current opioid epidemic. Chew it, smoke it, stuff it in your lip, inhale it or not: tobacco is deadly. And if you are feeling heroic about not actually being killed by it...sure, a person can live for quite some time with various parts of their lips, tongue, mouth, throat, larynx, or whatever corroded away by cancer - a truly horrific sight if you've seen it. Cigars, as noted by the Mayo Clinic, are definitely NOT a low-risk entertainment:

__________________
Do or do not. There is no try.

Your life, do as you like.

I have friends that enjoy cigarettes and cigars. I am happy that they are happy.

I smoke on occasion and am nicotine free.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan