A study found that menthol cigarettes are more addictive to smokers than regular cigarettes, health24.com reported.
“We previously found that cigarette smokers take in more nicotine and carbon monoxide per cigarette,” said study author Kunal Ghandi, a researcher in the division of addiction psychiatry at the University Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, in a news release. “This study shows that menthol smokers also find it harder to quit, despite smoking fewer cigarettes per day.”
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The study looked at about 1,700 people who attended a tobacco addiction clinic. In the study, blacks and Latinos who smoked menthol-flavored cigarettes had a much harder time quitting than those smoking regular-flavored cigarettes.
“These results build on growing evidence suggesting that menthol is not a neutral flavoring in cigarettes,” said Jonathon Foulds, director of the university’s Tobacco Dependence Program. “It masks the harshness of the nicotine and toxins, affects the way the cigarette is smoked and makes it more deadly and addictive.”
The study will be published in the online edition of the International Journal of Clinical Practice.
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