Question:

the other day i smoked four black and milds for the first time in a while. now the underneath of my tonge and possibly my lips are swollen. is it possible that these are side effects from smoking the cigars?

Answer:

You should really check with your physician to be sure of the cause of the swelling of your tongue and lips.

Black & Milds are pipe-tobacco cigars, look like mini cigars, and are filled with 100% pipe tobacco. The Surgeon General Warning that appears on the front of the package of 5 reads: “Cigars Are Not A Safe Alternative To Cigarettes.”

Cigars contain nicotine and are addictive. How much nicotine someone actually gets depends not only on how much they smoke, but also how they smoke (how frequent and deep are their puffs).

The package also reads: “These Cigars Are Predominantly Natural Tobacco With Non-Tobacco Ingredients Added,” whatever that means. You would have to contact the producers of the product to find out the actual content, as it is not listed on the package:

John Middleton, Inc.
King of Prussia, PA  19406  U.S.A.

Good websites to refer to are the American Cancer Society:
www.cancer.org (search for cigars)

AND

Surgeon General:
www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco (search for The Health Consequences of Smoking: a Report of the Surgeon General (5/27/2004); then search for the interactive animation, “The Health Consequences of Smoking on the Body.”)

For more information:

Go to the Smoking and Tobacco health topic.