Menthol cigarettes are cool now: Study reveals new preferred choice for smokers
2 min read . Updated: 13 Oct 2022, 01:13 PM IST
PremiumAccording to the study, menthol consumption has increased over the past ten years among adult smokers.
Adult smokers in the United States have smoked more menthol over the past ten years, according to a recent study. Menthol use is significantly more prevalent among adult smokers who are younger, from racial/ethnic minority groups, and have mental health conditions. The results, conducted by the City University of New York and the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, have been published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.
A little more than two out of every five people who smoke cigarettes frequently use menthol. In 2020, a continuous increase from earlier studies showed that more than 80% of Black smokers chose menthol.
The US Food and Drug Administration has not taken any action despite the Center for Tobacco Products' declaration that it wanted to develop a product standard that would restrict menthol as a distinguishing flavour in cigarettes. Menthol has been made illegal as a cigarette flavouring in Canada and the UK.
In 2020, menthol was used by about 50% of smokers who identified as Hispanic, female, between the ages of 18 and 25 and 26 and 34, lesbian or gay, and having mental health issues. This indicates that consumption has increased across all categories of the adult smoking population because it is higher than previously reported.
At the same time, given the regulatory process required to publish a product standard and the potential for tobacco industry litigation, experts warn that menthol cigarettes will likely stay on the market for a very long period.
According to Renee D. Goodwin, PhD, of the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School, public health may be significantly impacted by the US Food and Drug Administration's planned prohibition on menthol as a distinctive flavour in cigarettes, especially among young people and other susceptible groups.
Given the lack of prior study in this area, Goodwin offers a number of explanations for why menthol cigarettes are growing more and more popular among Hispanic smokers. There is proof that Hispanic individuals are increasingly being marketed with menthol cigarettes.
As per Goodwin, in particular, those in groups that smoke more regularly show permanent and unabated variations in their menthol intake, according to the study. According to data from 2020, menthol use among smokers has generally increased over the past ten years in all categories.
(With ANI inputs)
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