BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- At a time when cigarette smoking is on the decline, consumption of other tobacco products is actually on the rise.

Cigar smoking rose 46 percent between 1993 and 1997, and pipes are increasingly popular among high school students.

Health officials have said a major problem is that consumers believe cigars and pipes are less harmful than cigarettes but the truth is tobacco smoke carries the same toxins no matter what form it comes in.

In a new study, doctors from Columbia University measured lung function in more than 3,500 people and found cigar and pipe smokers had double the risk for chronic bronchitis or emphysema otherwise known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or C-O-P-D.

C-O-P-D is the fourth-leading killer in the U.S., claiming more than 120,000 lives each year -- that's more than breast, colon and prostate cancer put together.

Experts said that the focus on cigarettes has allowed tobacco companies to fly under the radar when marketing alternative products which in turn leads to the false public perception that cigars, pipes, and chewing tobacco do not carry the same health risks.