TUESDAY, Jan. 14, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A substantial proportion of U.S. adults are aware of and have already experimented with synthetic cooling agent menthol-mimicking cigarettes, according to a study published online Jan. 14 in JAMA Network Open.
Kelvin Choi, Ph.D., from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues examined the epidemiology of the use of synthetic cooling agent menthol-mimicking cigarettes among U.S. adults. The analysis included a nationally representative survey sample of 3,200 U.S. adults (aged 21 years and older).
The researchers found that 29.1 percent of U.S. adults were aware of synthetic cooling agent menthol-mimicking cigarettes, with 36.9 percent of those who were aware reporting ever use of these cigarettes, 24.7 percent reporting currently using these cigarettes, and 37.5 percent reporting not currently using but being susceptible to using them. Higher odds of awareness, ever use, current use, and/or susceptibility to these cigarettes was seen among Black or African American (versus White) adults, men (versus women), adults aged 60 years and younger (versus adults aged 61 years and older), adults who used menthol and nonmenthol cigarettes (versus adults who did not smoke cigarettes), and those who lived in states with a menthol cigarette ban (versus those living in states with no ban).
“These products may serve as a substitute for menthol cigarettes and reduce the public health benefits of a menthol cigarette ban in promoting smoking cessation,” the authors write.
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