Almost everyone is willing to admit that smoking is bad for you, but millions of people do it anyway. Despite the efforts of the health conscious and non-smokers, those who find enough time in their day to have a cigarette will do it even if it's outside. There has been a major increase in non-smoking areas ever since the discovery of the dangers of second-hand smoke. The Surgeon General does warn everyone:

There is no safe tobacco product. The use of any tobacco product - including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and spit tobacco; mentholated, "low-tar," "naturally grown," or "additive free" - can cause cancer and other adverse health effects.

Those are simply the facts. This, my friend the smoker, is not a sermon on the evils of those little nicotine-laced sticks you carry around. I wish to give my personal opinion, or advice, on what kind of "cancer stick" you perch ever so conveniently between your lips.

Cigarettes. They are common, collectively smooth, and very chic. They're also highly addictive. I do take notice of my smoker friends having to go out for a cigarette break every five minutes. That is highly obnoxious if you are trying to watch a movie or play a game. But wait, I suppose James Dean wouldn't be James Dean if he didn't have one of those tobacco sticks. I have also come to realize that they also make people smell bad sometimes, even if they bathe regularly. As for cloves, they smell a little too good and are the prodigal children of the cigar and cigarette. It is all in the nose of the beholder, literally speaking.

I would like to focus on my preference for a moment. I smoke cigars. People give me dirty looks when I find an occasion to light one of those stogies up. I pay them no mind, of course. I don't think it's wise to inhale them because it will knock your socks off if you breathe it in. They have a rougher edge, take a much longer time to smoke, and smell better in my opinion. They give added character and sophistication to a person who smokes them occasionally. An added plus is that you don't have to buy as many, and, if you don't inhale them often, you don't get as addicted. In being a cigar smoker, I find that I wish I had something to do while waiting in line, or just passing time away. You just cannot do that with cigars, and that is one thing that cigarette smokers have. Another downside is that cigars, good cigars, that is, are expensive. That is only on a short-term basis. If you take a cigarette smoker and cigar smoker side by side, the cigarette smoker would probably spend more in a year on their habit than the cigar smoker. Finally, you just can't beat the taste of a good cigar, especially with a glass of port, cognac, or scotch.