Description
Menthol is a chemical naturally found in peppermint and other mint plants, but it can also be made in a lab. First added to tobacco in the 1920s and 1930s, menthol reduces the harshness of cigarette smoke and the irritation from nicotine. Under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that gives the Food and Drug Administration authority over tobacco products, menthol was the only flavor allowed in cigarettes in sufficient quantity to be a “characterizing flavor.” Tobacco companies have relied on the soothing and cooling effects of menthol to make cigarettes more appealing to new smokers, youth, Black Americans and LGBTQ Americans among others. The marketing of menthol cigarettes has been targeted at Black Americans for decades.
More than 18.9 million people currently smoke menthol cigarettes.1 Flavors, including menthol, are one of the primary reasons kids start using tobacco products.
