Menthol cigarettes may be harder to quit

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Menthol cigarettes may be harder to quit -- especially for teens and African-Americans -- a team of U.S. researchers concluded.

Study author Jonathan Foulds of the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine and colleagues say menthol is a compound extracted from mint oils or produced synthetically that activates cold-sensitive neurons in the nervous system. Menthol cigarettes make up about 25 percent of the cigarette market but are preferred by certain subgroups of smokers, including half of teen smokers and 80 percent of African-American smokers.

Research has shown that menthol cigarettes may provide higher levels of carbon monoxide, nicotine and cotinine -- a metabolite of nicotine -- per cigarette smoked than regular cigarettes, Foulds says.

"Menthol stimulates cold receptors, so it produces a cooling sensation," Foulds says in a statement. "This effect may help smokers inhale more nicotine per cigarette and so become more addicted. In effect it helps the poison go down easier."

A smoker who has reduced cigarette consumption due to economic reasons typically compensates by increasing inhalation per cigarette.

"Menthol in cigarettes makes the smoke less harsh, enabling these smokers to obtain a larger and more reinforcing nicotine hit," Foulds says.

The findings are published in a special issue of the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.