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Science Harvard researchers argue U.S. tobacco companies use menthol as "candy" to entice young smokers
Science Harvard researchers argue U.S. tobacco companies use menthol as "candy" to entice young smokers | Harvard researchers argue U.S. tobacco companies use menthol as "candy" to entice young smokers |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Sunday, 20 July 2008 | |
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Science DiscussionsThe Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) press release is entitled “Tobacco Industry Systematically Manipulated Cigarette Menthol Content to Recruit New Smokers Among Adolescents and Young Adults.” The HSPH press release is based on the article "Tobacco Industry Control of Menthol in Cigarettes and Targeting of Adolescents and Young Adults,” which summarizes the research performed by U.S. research analyst Jennifer M. Kreslate (Tobacco Control Research Program) and her Harvard University HSPH team. The article will appear in the journal American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) in September 2008 (volume 98, number 9). The Kreslake team includes Geoffrey Ferris Wayne, Hillel R. Alpert, Howard K. Koh, and Gregory N. Connolly, all from the Harvard School of Public Health, Division of Public Health Practice. The research of the Kreslake team is based on analysis of menthol product data from internal tobacco industry documents, independent laboratory tests of U.S. menthol cigarette brands, market research reports, and survey data from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which used U.S. citizens that were 12 years of age and older. The study was performed because of concerns about the increased popularity of menthol cigarette brands with adolescents in the United States. Their popularity has been especially high among first-time young smokers in the United States. The objective of their research, according to their abstract, was to examine “… whether tobacco manufacturers manipulate the menthol content of cigarettes in an effort to target adolescents and young adults.” [AJPH First Look: “Tobacco Industry Control of Menthol in Cigarettes and Targeting of Adolescents and Young Adults”] According to the HSPH press release, the tobacco industry has, “a deliberate strategy to recruit and addict young smokers by adjusting menthol to create a milder experience for the first time smoker.” Menthol is a waxy, crystalline organic compound made artificially or obtained from peppermint or other mint oils. It is often used as a local anesthetic or as a substance to resist irritating materials, such as a way to relieve minor throat irritation (such as what might be caused by cigarette smoking). Menthol, which is not addictive in itself, allows nicotine, the addictive substance in cigarettes, to be smoked with less harshness and irritation to users as they inhale the smoke from the cigarettes. The researchers make comments about menthol in cigarettes based on their research. Please read on. |
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