In order to examine the association of smoking cigarettes with a lower tar and nicotine yield to peptic ulcer disease, a common disease associated in past studies with cigarette smoking. We used questionnaire information provided by 9009 current regular cigarette smokers. The percentage who ever had peptic ulcer disease in smokers whose current cigarette yielded 0.00-0.81, 0.81-0.99, 1.00-1.27 and 1.28 + milligrams of nicotine per cigarette were 8.5, 9.2, 9.2 and 9.5, respectively . The percentages who ever has peptic ulcer in smokers whose current cigarette yielded 0.0-11.9, 12.0-15.9, 16.0-18.9 and 19.0+ milligrams of tar per cigarette were 8.6, 9.1, 8.9 and 10.8 per 100, respectively. In contrast, the percentages who ever had peptic ulcer disease increased with the smoking of a greater number of cigarettes, being 5.9, 8.8, 9.0, 11.8 and 10.5 in smokers of less than 10, 10-19, 20-29, 30-39 and 40+ cigarettes, respectively. In multiple logistic regression analyses, peptic ulcer disease was significantly (p = 0.002) associated with number of cigarettes (RR = 1.12 per 10 cigarettes; 95% CI 1.08, 1.16), age and sex. There was no significant association (both p's less than 0.10) either with the current cigarette's tar yield (RR = 1.09 per 10 milligrams; 95% CI 0.96, 1.25) or with its nicotine yield (RR = 1.15 per milligram; 95% CI 0.94, 1.42).