June 30, 2011 - A recent Stanford School of Medicine shows that tobacco companies increased advertising while lowering prices of menthol cigarettes in stores near California high schools with a higher percentage of African-American students.  A 2008 federal law banned 13 candy flavorings added to cigarettes; however, menthol was excluded from this list.  Menthol makes tobacco smoke less harsh, and therefore makes cigarettes more enjoyable to smoke.  According to this study, tobacco companies are using this combined method of increased advertising with decreased cost in order to attract young African-Americans to smoking.  Although various tobacco companies deny racial targeting, the study demonstrates otherwise—the researchers found that the higher African-American population at a school, the more advertisements for menthol cigarettes in surrounding stores. Additionally, the odds of an advertised discount for Newport, the leading brand of menthol cigarettes, were 1.5 times greater in these areas. The senior author of the study, Stephen Fortmann, MD, explained the importance of banning menthol: “Adding menthol to cigarettes makes it easier to smoke and harder to quit, so the public health community strongly supports an FDA ban on menthol flavoring.”

For more information, please visit http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110624080341.htm