A new study by US researchers who examined internal industry documents, market and national survey reports and lab test results, concluded that the tobacco industry manipulated the menthol content of cigarettes to attract young new smokers and encourage them to become dependent on nicotine.

The study was the work of investigators from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in Boston, Massachusetts and was published on 16th July, in the “first look online ahead of print” issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Menthol cigarettes have become increasingly popular with teenagers, prompting the researchers to find out if tobacco manufacturers manipulated the menthol content of cigarettes in order to target adolescents and young adults.

For the study, the HSPH researchers analyzed data from product development documentation within the tobacco industry, results from lab tests of US menthol brand cigarettes, results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, and market research reports.

The results showed that:

  • Tobacco companies researched how to control menthol levels as a way to increase brand sales among specific groups.

  • The companies concluded that products with higher menthol levels and stronger perceived menthol sensation suited long-term smokers of menthol cigarettes while milder brands with lower menthol levels appealed to younger smokers.

  • The tobacco industry then promoted cigarettes with lower menthol content to attract new young smokers and also introduced new milder menthol brands.

  • Menthol brands with the greatest market share growth among young adults had the lowest menthol levels among the brands tested.

  • A significantly greater proportion of adolescent and young adult smokers used menthol cigarettes compared to older smokers.

  • 43.8 per cent of current smokers aged 12 to 17 years said they used menthol cigarettes, as did 35.6 per cent of current 18 to 24 year old smokers (2006 survey).

  • This compared to 30.6 per cent of smokers over 35 years old who said they smoked menthol cigarettes.

  • Race was a factor: African Americans as a whole were more likely to use menthol brands.

  • Although African American adolescent and young adult smokers smoked menthol cigarettes as often as older African American smokers, they were more likely to choose a milder menthol brand.

  • Sales of menthol cigarettes stayed the same from 2000 to 2005 in the US, during a period when overall cigarette sales fell by 22 per cent.

The authors concluded that:

“Tobacco companies manipulate the sensory characteristics of cigarettes, including menthol content, thereby facilitating smoking initiation and nicotine dependence.”

“Menthol brands that have used this strategy have been the most successful in attracting youth and young adult smokers and have grown in popularity,” they added.

Menthol masks the harshness and irration of cigarettes, making it easier to deliver an “effective dose of nicotine”, which is the part of cigarettes smokers become addicted to, according to an HSPH press statement. The tobacco companies then market these “milder” products to the younger first time smoker.

For example, the researchers found that Marlboro introduced Marlboro Milds in 2000, with a lower menthol concentration at the same time that they raised the menthol content in Marlboro Menthol, a brand favoured by older smokers.

The researchers recommended that:

“To protect the public health, tobacco products should be federally regulated, and additives such as menthol should be included in that regulation.”

Another study co-author who is Professor of the Practice of Public Health and Director of the Tobacco Control Research Program at HSPH, Dr Gregory N Connolly, said:

“This is another example of the cynical behavior of the tobacco industry to hook teens and African Americans to a deadly addiction.”

“This is after the industry told the American public it had changed its marketing practices. The FDA bill provides the vehicle to end the hypocrisy and save the lives of the young and a targeted minority group,” he added.

The FDA bill is currently before Congress. If passed, it would give the federal authority power to regulate menthol and other additives in cigarettes.

” Tobacco Industry Control of Menthol in Cigarettes and Targeting of Adolescents and Young Adults.”
Jennifer M. Kreslake, Geoffrey Ferris Wayne, Hillel R. Alpert, Howard K. Koh, and Gregory N. Connolly
American Journal of Public Health First Look, published online ahead of print Jul 16, 2008.
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2007.125542

Click here for Abstract.

Sources: journal abstract and Harvard School of Public Health press statement.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD