The continuum of risk from using tobacco and nicotine.
Relative mortality risk from smoking cigarettes, cigars, snuffing, chewing nicotine gum or abstaining from tobacco
The red and brown columns show the risks of inhaled tobacco smoke.
The pale turquoise colours show the much lower risks of not inhaling tobacco smoke.
Smoking 25 or more cigarettes a day incurs nearly four times the risk of early death experienced by nonsmokers.
In contrast not inhaling a cigar, or snuffing, is less dangerous than living with a smoker (and inhaling second hand smoke).