The majority of carcinogens from smoking tobacco are created by burning the plant fibers. Quitting smoking is the number thing someone who smokes can do to improve their health. Vaping exposes individuals to fewer carcinogens than smoking, but still has the negative health impacts of nicotine alone on heart and mental health and still some carcinogen exposure.
SmokeFree.gov has free evidence-based resources to help quit!
Well, if you leave the tar out, it would be better than regular cigarettes. Not sure how that compares to vapes though. The small, cheap ones put burnt copper in your lungs.
I've been wanting to do that for a while now but haven't tried it yet because the Wikihow article about growing tobacco says that the last step is to age it for 5-6 years. Turns out that step is optional (it even says so in the article, I just never read past the first bullet point), though you'll get harsh tobacco if you skip it. But I don't smoke, so I don't care about harshness.
Anyway, you should give it a try, maybe it's fun, and working with plants is always a good time :3