CIGAR CHIC CLOUDS TOBACCO DEBATE : BATTLE BEGINS ON HEALTH RISK OF NEW TREND.

Byline: Elizabeth M. Cosin Daily News Staff Writer

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

These days, among the hip, trendy and Hollywood elite, that can only mean one thing: cigars.

Once considered a pastime of old white men, cigar smoking is fast becoming the trendiest social activity of the young and chic, male and female, rich and not-so-rich. They snap up all the gourmet smokes and hang out at cigar bars, striking cool poses in the image of high-profile stogie smokers - among them, health-minded Arnold Schwarzenegger and Demi Moore.

But along with smoke, comes fire.

For, in an age when cigarette smokers are social pariahs in many circles (and have been banished, for the most part, to their homes and outdoors), organizations like the American Heart and American Lung associations find themselves back on the front lines. This time, they're fighting cigars.

``Tobacco is tobacco, and tobacco has been proven to cause cancer,'' said Dr. Vanessa Tatum, a pulmonary specialist in Inglewood and a member of the board of the American Lung Association of Los Angeles. ``Cigars aren't as bad as cigarettes, but they are still unhealthy. Smoking them may seem attractive, but the diseases they cause are not in the least.''

The American Lung Association estimates cancer death rates among men who smoke cigars to be 34 percent higher than cancer death rates among nonsmokers. And, according to the association, cigar smokers are four times more likely to die from mouth and throat cancer than are nonsmokers.

Secondhand smoke from cigars, studies say, also poses the same hazards as secondhand cigarette smoke.

``For the first time that I can remember, I am now asking my patients if they are cigar smokers,'' said Tatum, whose practice includes mostly women in the entertainment industry. ``It's a new trend that I think is frightening, especially when I see so many women taking it up. It is going to become a very serious medical problem.''

Experts have long contended cigar smoking can cause cancer, particularly in the hand, neck and mouth.

But clear-cut conclusions end there.

``There haven't been any specific studies on cigar smokers,'' said Dr. Mark Goldstein, an oncologist in Van Nuys and West Hills. ``I would expect people smoking cigars to have the same health risks as people who smoke cigarettes. ... The major difference you are looking at (is) a quantitative risk, not whether there is a risk or not. It's very naive to think that any of these tobacco products don't carry a risk.''

Health concerns apparently are not stopping the stampede for the stylish smokes. Demand is higher than ever and rising, and new devotees seem to join every day.

``Business has been booming, just booming. It's a fight to keep up,'' said Karl L. Kolpin, who with his son, Karl Jr., runs Cigar Co. cigar shops in Woodland Hills and Pasadena. When asked about the health effects of his product, Kolpin points to his father, Ed, who started the Tinder Box tobacco shop in Santa Monica in 1928.

``He's 86 now, and he's been smoking cigars almost all his life. He still works every day,'' Karl Kolpin said. ``I have a feeling it's a lot worse going outside and breathing in the fumes of a city bus.''

Of course, Kolpin has a financial interest in diminishing the possible health risks of cigar smoking, as does the rest of the cigar industry that, only a few years ago, was on its deathbed.

Today, the industry is experiencing a remarkable and surprising resurgence, with sales of premium cigars this year already up more than 60 percent from last year to $257 million, according to the Cigar Association of America, a trade group based in Washington, D.C.

Sales of all cigars are up 16 percent from a year ago and are expected to surpass $3 billion by year's end.

Many charities have turned to cigar nights for fund-raisers. They often include a fancy dinner or drink menu and, yes, free cigars. A downtown Los Angeles health club recently held a cigar night. Last month, Jim Belushi, who is part owner in the Cigar Cellar, a chain of cigar stores in Southern California, hosted a well-attended charity event for his late brother John's scholarship fund at the House of Blues. Tom Arnold, Danny DeVito, George Hamilton and Steven Spielberg were among the celebs who made appearances at the event, with ticket prices going for $125 to $1,000 a plate.

Some of Hollywood's brightest stars - men and women - are adding a glitzy veneer to cigars.

Brooke Shields, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Courteney Cox all puffed away on stogies during the premieres of their sitcoms on NBC's popular Thursday night lineup.

While doctors and health organizations mount their campaign against cigar smoking, defenders of cigars say the studies and warnings are misleading.

``The health risks of cigars are pretty minimal,'' said Dr. Robert Wilson, an orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, one of Belushi's partners in the Cigar Cellar. ``Nothing is completely safe. But you'd have to smoke a lot of cigars to have a significant increase in health risk. We're talking about orders of magnitude that aren't any worse than driving on the freeway without your seat belt.''

Wilson is among many new aficionados of the smoking art who frown on other forms of tobacco, separating cigars from their more processed cousins, cigarettes.

If they choose to use any tobacco product, cigar smokers say, aren't cigars the least of the evils?

True, they aren't as deadly as cigarettes, say the American Lung Association and many doctors. But they are, nonetheless, dangerous.

``Clearly, cigarettes cause more instances of cancer and cancer-related deaths than cigars,'' said Tatum. ``While it's true cigars are not as harmful to hearts and lungs as cigarettes, cigar smokers have higher instances of cancer of any kind than nonsmokers. People are taking a risk.''

How much a risk is still hard to say. Studies have suggested that many people switch from cigarettes to cigars with the belief that cigars are safer. Cigar smokers are not supposed to inhale, but rather puff on their smokes.

Aficionados say cigars are more natural, contain none of the chemicals such as anti-drying agents and wrapper bleaches and are smoked less frequently than cigarettes. Critics of smoking say those contentions are untrue, unproven or not significant in reducing health risks.

Unlike cigarettes, cigars are not required to include the Surgeon General's ``smoking is hazardous to your health'' warning on the packaging. Nor or they required to say what additives, if any, they contain.

Even so, many cigar smokers say they have considered the risks of their habit and decided it is worth taking.

Don Fleming, an antiques dealer from Van Nuys, has been smoking cigars on and off for 25 years and believes moderation is the key.

``I love the taste,'' he said. ``I only smoke two or three a week, which probably isn't a lot by normal standards. And I don't inhale.''

This doesn't sit all that well with older brother Jim, who turns his nose up at the sight of a lit cigar.

``You know why I look younger than him?'' said Jim. ``Because I don't smoke cigars.''

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos

Photo: (1) ``Business has been booming, just booming. It 's a fight to keep up,'' says Karl Kolpin of the Cigar Co. stores in Woodland Hills and Pasadena.

(2-3) Cigar smoking's popularity among celebrities is underscored by cigar magazine covers featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Demi Moore.

(4) Cigar lovers claim their habit is safer than cigarette smoking because they don't inhale, smoke less and are subject to fewer additives.

(5--Cover--color) Hip...Trendy...Hazardous to your health

Myung J. Chun/Daily News