More Teens Are Saying, 'Have a Cigar'

Risks rise even higher once users decide to inhale cigar smoke. Compared to nonsmokers, cigar smokers who inhale deeply face 27 times the risk of oral cancer and 53 times the risk of cancer of the larynx, according to the NIH report.

So, what works and what doesn't if you're a parent trying to convince your teen to avoid cigars and other tobacco?

Dwelling on the long-term risk of cancer -- that they may come down with lung cancer at 40 -- isnotusually effective, Banzhaf said, because the typical teen thinks of the 40th birthday as an eternity away.

Teens also have a hard time personalizing risk. They tend to think they are immune to life's dangers -- that something bad could happen to the next person, but not them.

Parents should instead focus on the reasons kids light up to begin with. "Kids like to start smoking not so much for the taste but because it is a sign of growing up," Banzhaf said. Peer pressure plays a role, too.

"If parents can start to convince kids that smoking makes you stinky and smelly, not sexy and sophisticated, that can have a great impact," he said.

Goold tells parents to maintain an ongoing dialogue with their children, the same as they would when talking about not taking drugs. Spending time together as a family, such as eating dinner together, can help make that conversation flow more naturally, he said.

More information

To learn more about tobacco-free environments, visit Action on Smoking and Health.

SOURCES: John Banzhaf, J.D., executive director, Action on Smoking and Health, and professor, public interest law, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.; Scott Goold, director, Tobacco Freedom, Albuquerque, N.M.;Background on Cigar Monograph: Cigars: Health Effects and Trends, U.S. National Institutes of Health.