Menthol Cigarettes - Most Popular among Mississippi Youth

Menthol cigarette flavoring helps to promote smoking by "improving" the taste of smoke, and thus decreasing the unpleasantness of early smoking experiences. Research has demonstrated that menthol is more than a flavor -  it makes it easier for youth to initiate smoking (see The Case Against Menthol Cigarettes).


The latest results from the 2010 Mississippi Youth Tobacco demonstrate the popularity of menthol cigarettes among Mississippi youth.

• Among current middle school smokers, 59.5% usually smoke menthol cigarettes
• Among current high school smokers, 69.0% usually smoke menthol cigarettes
• Analyses revealed no statistically significant differences in regular menthol cigarette use across race, grade, or gender.

Although the legislation that authorized the FDA to regulate tobacco also implemented a ban on cigarettes with flavors such as chocolate with the rationale that this will discourage youth initiation, menthol was exempted from this ban and is being considered separately by the FDA.