Menthol Cigarettes: Moving Toward a Broader Definition of Harm

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health and Legacy are pleased to announce the publication of a special supplemental issue of Nicotine and Tobacco Research entitled Menthol Cigarettes: Moving Toward a Broader Definition of Harm. This supplement was published on December 21, 2010, and contains some of the proceedings from the Second Conference on Menthol Cigarettes that took place in Washington, D.C., on October 19–20, 2009. Overall findings from this supplement present a broader public health definition for the harmful effects of menthol cigarettes. These findings show that—

· Menthol cigarettes are preferred by youth, women, and certain racial/ethnic minority groups.

· Menthol in cigarettes may increase smoking initiation, increase the addiction potential of tobacco, and make it harder to quit in certain subgroups.

· Menthol cigarettes may be perceived by some groups as being less harmful and providing health benefits due to the historical tobacco industry marketing practices of this product.

The guest editors of this supplement are Drs. Bridgette E. Garrett, Phillip Gardiner, Pamela I. Clark, and Jennifer Unger. Articles can be accessed at http://ntr.oxfordjournals.org/content/12/suppl_2

Source: CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health