Menthol cigarette
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A menthol cigarette is a cigarette flavored with the compound menthol, a substance which triggers the cold-sensitive nerves in the skin without actually providing a drop in temperature.
Contents |
[edit] Origins
First developed as the Spud Brand menthol cigarette in 1924, this adulterated form didn't fully catch on until the Axton-Fisher Tobacco Company acquired the patent in 1927, marketing them nationwide as "Spud Menthol Cooled Cigarettes". Even then, it remained the only menthol cigarette on the market until the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company created the Kool brand in 1933. Not coincidentally, this was one year after Spud cracked the top five of best-selling cigarette brands. (Salem brand, the first menthol filter-tip, wouldn't appear on the scene until 1950, created by the R.J. Reynolds Company.)
[edit] Effects on smokers
Curiously, although menthol smokers take shallower and fewer "drags", or inhalations, the difference in blood pressure and expired carbon monoxide for nonmenthol smokers appears to be minimal (W.J. McCarthy, UCLA, "Menthol vs. nonmenthol cigarettes: effects on smoking behavior", 1995 January). Likewise, at least among African-American smokers, quitting seems to be much more difficult for smokers of menthol-flavored cigarettes (K.S. Okuyemi, University of Kansas Medical Center, "black menthol and nonmenthol smokers: differences in smoking and cessation experiences", 2004 September).
In addition, the documents supplied during the trial of the tobacco industry mention specific effects of menthol in cigarettes: A cooling, anaesthetic function lessens the sensation of drawing hot gases into the mouth and lungs, while the mintlike flavor of the compound improves the perceived taste and lessens the impact of nicotine's bitter flavor and scent. In a form of tradeoff, however, the menthol is also a source of increased oral and respiratory irritation, though this is somewhat masked by the aforementioned anaesthetic effect (G. Ferris Wayne, Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program, "Application, function, and effects of menthol in cigarettes: a survey of tobacco industry documents", 2004 February).
With regard to racial preferences, Hymowitz' 1995 study at the New Jersey Medical School (Menthol cigarette smoking in African Americans and whites) found that, of 473 cigarette smokers participating in a cessation program:
- Menthol was preferred by 79% of black smokers, irrespective of gender. By comparison, 13% of white males and 20% of white females preferred menthol.
- Of those who smoked menthol cigarettes, white smokers had a higher mean daily rate of cigarette consumption: 31/day (male) and 27/day (female). By contrast, African American smokers' mean daily consumptions were 22/day (male) and 19/day (female).
- Flavor preference was markedly higher among African American smokers: 56% would not smoke a non-menthol cigarette if menthols were unavailable, as opposed to 28% of white participants.
Since the term "cool" was often used in the African-American community in the 60s, some have argued that the brand KOOL cigarettes is an example of targeted marketing through cultural appropriation. In 2004 over 70% of African American smokers preferred menthol cigarettes, compared with 30% of white smokers. This unique social phenomenon was principally occasioned by the tobacco industry's manipulation of the burgeoning black, urban, segregated, consumer market in cities at that time.[1]
[edit] Economics and regulation
According to the Federal Trade Commission's Cigarette Report for 2002, the latest available through their ftc.gov website, menthol cigarettes constitute 27% of the market, up from a four-year stagnation at 26%.
Although the use of menthol in ointments and cough drops is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States of America, regulation of cigarettes was removed from their purview in 2000 by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling for the Brown & Williamson Tobacco and Company.
[edit] References
- ^ The blackinization of menthol cigarette use in the United States Phillip S. Gardiner Dr.P.H
