Could menthol cigarettes have a negative effect on smoking cessation attempt? New research conducted on this topic; find out that menthol smokes are associated with lowered quitting rate in the United States, and that this effect is more common among Afro-Americans and Puerto Ricans. The given finding is timely as the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products is at present considering prohibiting menthol cigarettes after Tobacco Product Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) declared that “elimination of menthol cigs from the tobacco market would help to improve the public health in the United States.”

Previous studies concerting the effect of smoking menthol cigarettes and smoking cessation attempts have led to mixed results. For example some researches didn’t analyze the overall population of smokers, while other forgot to pay attention on periods of positive cessation and instead targeted attempts to stop smoking.

The present study, Smoking Cessation Prevalence among Menthol and Non-Menthol Smokers in the United States, examines whether those who prefer menthol smokes are less likely to stop lighting up than smokers of regular cigarettes and whether these findings vary by race and age. Using data from the 2003 and 2007, experts paid attention on white, Afro-American and Hispanic smokers. Afro-Americans included multi-racial blacks, and the Hispanic info was consequently divided by Hispanic origin (Mexico vs. Puerto Rico). Social status was examined for all groups. Overall, menthol smoking rate was more common among ladies and youngsters, aged 18 to 24. Menthol smoking differed significantly by race; among Afro- Americans - 71.8% used menthol cigs, which is higher than whites - 21% and Hispanics – 28.1%. However, what concerns Hispanics there was some differentiation. Menthol cigarettes were mostly preferred among Puerto Ricans – 62% than among Mexicans – 19% and other Hispanic origins - 26.5 %.

Consequently the study discovered that menthol cigarette smoking was associated with lower levels of smoking cessation attempts in comparison non-menthol smokers, and these finding were more evident among Afro-Americans and those from Puerto Rico. “As our study demonstrates that the presence of menthol may explain the revealed distinction in cessation results, the current demands to prohibit this flavoring would be reasonable and evidence-based,” the authors declare.

Usually smoking cessation studies have grouped Hispanics together and compared them with non-Hispanic whites, thus disregarding the wide heterogeneity of the Hispanic population.

Researches that realized the study state that there were particular restrictions and limitations to the study, including that the self-reported and historical data; however they underline that previous study using self-reported measures of tobacco consumptions has been shown to provide valid results.

By Clark Moore, Staff Writer Copyright © 2011 Hot-Cigs.com All rights reserved.