• Posted January 19, 2025

Menthol Mimics Pose Challenge to Tobacco Bans

Menthol cigarettes are under fire in the United States for promoting smoking among Black Americans, with a number of cities and states banning the smokes.

In response, the tobacco industry has come up with “menthol mimics” that imitate the cooling effect of menthol, and smokers are taking note of the innovation, a new study published Jan. 14 in JAMA Network Open says.

A substantial portion of U.S. adults are “aware of and had already experimented with synthetic cooling agent menthol-mimicking cigarettes,” concluded a research team led by Kelvin Choi, a senior investigator with the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

“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,” Choi said.

Menthol masks the irritation and harshness of cigarette smoke, making it easier for smokers to pick up the habit, researchers said in background notes.

This reduced irritation also allows for deeper inhalation, resulting in higher nicotine exposure, researchers added.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes, but that effort stalled under the Biden administration.

Despite this, the states of Massachusetts and California and cities in Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon have pressed forward with their own bans on the products, researchers said.

A recent evidence review found that 24% of menthol smokers quit after menthol cigarettes are banned, researchers noted.

Tobacco companies subsequently introduced cigarettes in which menthol is replaced by a synthetic cooling agent called WS-3, researchers said.

The additive is colorless and flavorless, and has been marketed as “nonmenthol for menthol smokers,” researchers said.

To see whether this alternative has gained any traction, researchers surveyed 3,200 U.S. adults.

Overall, nearly 30% of people were aware of these menthol-mimicking smokes, according to results published in JAMA Network Open.

In addition, about 37% of those aware of menthol mimics had tried them out, 25% were currently smoking them, and another 37% were interested in potentially trying them.

“Among U.S. adults who currently smoked menthol cigarettes and were aware of synthetic cooling agent menthol-mimicking cigarettes, half indicated that they were likely to switch to these cigarettes if menthol cigarettes were banned in the U.S.,” the research team concluded.

Awareness of the menthol mimics was more likely among Black people, smokers, and people who live in states with a menthol ban, researchers added.

Disclosing the name of the synthetic cooling agent did not discourage people’s interest in menthol-mimicking smokes either.

“Explaining to the public that WS-3 is used in shaving cream may yield a different response,” researchers wrote. “Future research needs to investigate how to communicate the potential harm of synthetic cooling agent menthol-mimicking cigarettes to individuals and to the public.”

More information

Duke University has more on menthol mimics.

SOURCE: JAMA Network Open, news release, Jan. 14, 2025