Tobacco industry manipulates menthol levels to attract young people

Research released today in the American Journal of Public Health found evidence that the tobacco industry has manipulated menthol levels and created new cigarette brands with the intention of gaining market share among young adults and adolescents.

The article, Tobacco Industry Control of Menthol Cigarettes and Targeting of Adolescents and Young Adults, compiled data and tobacco industry documents that reveal the tobacco industry's intention to vary strengths of menthol flavors in cigarettes, appealing to young people. The research was conducted by the Division of Public Health Practice at the Harvard School of Public Health and funded in part by the American Legacy Foundation.

According to the report, tobacco companies discovered that long-term smokers preferred products with higher menthol levels and stronger perceived menthol sensations, while younger smokers preferred milder menthol products. The report went on to describe that menthol products tend to mask the harshness of smoke inhalation, allowing for nicotine to enter the systems of these new smokers who subsequently become addicted. In response to this information, tobacco companies introduced new menthol brands with lower menthol levels to appeal to younger smokers and to gain a larger market share. While cigarette sales in the U.S. declined by 22 percent between 2000 to 2005, the sales of menthol cigarettes remained constant.

Data analyzed in the study indicates that significantly more adolescents and young adults smoke menthol cigarettes than older people. It also emphasizes that most African-American smokers in the United States smoke menthol cigarettes (more than 70 percent as compared with about 30 percent of white smokers).

"We know that menthol cigarettes are disproportionately marketed to the African-American community and that starting at a young age, menthol cigarettes are the product of choice for Black smokers," Cheryl G. Healton, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of the American Legacy Foundation. "This research confirms that the industry is intentionally manipulating these products in order to get new smokers hooked," Healton added.

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that while youth smoking is currently at the lowest level in the past 30 years, the recent substantial declines seen between 1997-2003 came to a stand-still between 2003-2007. The American Legacy Foundation is concerned that this method of attracting new smokers is undermining the significant achievements the public health community has made in reducing smoking rates among young people.

"For decades, the tobacco industry has carefully manipulated menthol content not only to lure youth but also to lock in lifelong adult customers," said Howard Koh, a Legacy Board member, Professor and Associate Dean for Public Health Practice at HSPH and a co-author of the paper.

The American Legacy Foundation is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The foundation's programs include truth, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking; EX, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use; and a nationally-renowned program of outreach to priority populations. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry.