New smokers more likely to use menthol cigarettes

Menthol cigarette use is higher among persons who started smoking in the past year (44.6 percent) than among longer-term smokers (31.8 percent) according to a new study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In addition, among persons who smoked in the past month, the percentage using menthol cigarettes increased from 31.0 percent in 2004 to 33.9 percent in 2008. This increase was most pronounced among adolescent smokers aged 12 to 17 (up from 43.5 percent to 47.7 percent), and young adult smokers aged 18 to 25 (up from 34.1 percent to 40.8 percent).

Menthol is an additive used in cigarettes that masks the harshness of cigarette smoke by giving the smoker the sensation of coolness in the mouth, pharynx, and lungs. By masking the harshness, menthol can make it easier for young people to start smoking. Some recent research indicates that menthol cigarettes may be more difficult to quit than other types of cigarettes. Menthol is the only cigarette flavoring still permitted under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, but the law calls for research on the public health effects of its continued use in cigarettes.

"Menthol cigarettes may play a role in perpetuating cigarette smoking - one of the most preventable and deadly public health problems plaguing this nation," said SAMHSA Acting Administrator Eric Broderick, D.D.S., M.P.H. "The apparent allure that menthol cigarettes have among younger, newer smokers is particularly troubling as menthol cigarettes may tempt more people to take up this dangerous deadly habit."

The study shows that the levels of menthol cigarette use among Black smokers (82.6 percent) remains much higher than White smokers (23.8 percent), Hispanic smokers (32.3 percent) and smokers from other racial and ethnic groups. Among Blacks, long-term smokers were more likely to use menthol cigarettes than were those who took up smoking in the past year, which is the opposite of the pattern found among White and Hispanic smokers.

There was also a noticeable rise in the percentage using menthol cigarettes among male current smokers - from 2004 to 2008 (26.9 percent to 30.8 percent).

SOURCE Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration