A new study found that smokers of menthol cigarettes have a harder time quitting, suggesting a ban on flavored tobacco products could reduce the overall number of smokers.
In an article published in Tobacco Control, a publication of the British Medical Journal, researchers examined smokers who participated in the U.S. Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study. They found menthol cigarettes reduced the probability of kicking the habit for at least one month by 30% and quitting for up to one year by 53%.
However, the study also found people who switched from menthol to non-menthol cigarettes increased their odds of quitting for at least one month by 58% and for a year by 97%.
DC CONVENIENCE STORE OWNERS BRACE FOR HIT FROM BAN ON MENTHOLS
A similar experience in Canada suggests most menthol smokers would switch to regular cigarettes when a ban goes into effect. After seven of the 10 provinces in Canada banned menthol cigarettes from 2015-2017, nearly 60% of menthol smokers switched. Another 20% quit altogether, while the other 20% continued smoking menthol cigarettes likely obtained on Indian reservations.
“The scientific evidence is very clear about the benefits of a ban and the continued greater devastation among those who are smoking menthol,” Geoffrey Fong, chief principal investigator of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project and a professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada, told Stat News. “Menthol is not a good thing to have in cigarettes.”
Researchers also found using menthol cigarettes slightly reduced the odds of quitting for black Americans but not other racial groups.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, 85% of black smokers use menthol cigarettes compared to only 30% of white smokers.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Back in April, the FDA announced it would ban menthol cigarettes by 2022. It is estimated the ban would cause 923,000 smokers to quit, including 230,000 black people.
