Big Tobacco Lures Young Smokers With Menthol Cigarettes

U.S. News and World Report ^ | July 17, 2008 | Amanda Gardner

[Zakeet]

Researchers say industry manipulates the ingredient to recruit new generation of users

Tobacco companies are manipulating menthol levels in cigarettes to appeal to newer, younger smokers, part of a deliberate strategy to get younger people, particularly African-Americans, hooked, a new study contends.

Menthol makes cigarettes more palatable to the novice smoker.

"If anything, menthol is being used as a candy to help the toxin go down," said Dr. Gregory Connolly, senior author of a paper being published in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health. "If we let the industry go ahead and willy-nilly design the product the way they want to, it's going to lead to the premature death of millions and millions of Americans. Our research says we have to go after this."

A bill pending in Congress would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration power to regulate menthol and other additives in cigarettes.

[Snip]

Menthol itself is not addictive, but it can ease the "delivery" of nicotine, which is highly addictive. More than 70 percent of African-American smokers use menthol cigarettes, compared with about 30 percent of white smokers. It's unclear if menthol cigarettes are more harmful than "regular" cigarettes, the study authors said.

[Zakeet]

We need more government regulation to protect children and African-Americans!

[angkor]

>>>>More than 70 percent of African-American smokers use menthol cigarettes, compared with about 30 percent of white smokers. <<<<<

A few weeks back Rush did a funny riff that the feds wouldn’t do anything against menthol cigs (but other flavors must go), because it would be discriminatory against blacks.

[RPTMS]

So what’s the big deal. Tobacco companies are just trying to produce a product that the public will want to buy. Are they going to force junk food producers to make their products taste like crap, too?

[mrmargaritaville]

In this day and age with all we know about the dangers of tobacco and it’s use-anyone who still ueses it, and suffers the consequences get what they deserve.

[SJSAMPLE]

Menthol?

Young gay smokers, maybe.

[Dead Corpse]

Utter BS. But then again, government is "good" when it protects us from ourselves? Right?

Booze. Prostitution (acts of Capitalism between consenting adults, not sex slavery). Gambling. "Inappropriate content" in TV, books, Movies, and magazines. Gun control laws. Seat belt laws. EPA standards. Etc...

Seem that the "we'll protect you from yourself" is the new theme and BOTH Parties are fully on board.

A pox on both your houses....

[wolfcreek]

menthol? Gee, that’s a new invention!

[edzo4]

meanwhile the governmment makes 10X more $ of a pack of cigarettes than the 'evil' tobbacco companies do...

[Graycliff]

When i was in the Army, we used to get Kool’s and Salem’s in our C-Rats. They came 4 to a pack, with a small book of matches. That’s when i started smoking, and the government supplied them. Go figure!

[EyeGuy]

“Big Tobacco Lures Young Smokers With Menthol Cigarettes”

BigMedia Lures Brainless Readers with yet another Editorial Disguised as News Attacking an American Corporation.

[Lou L]

Big Tobacco Lures Young Smokers With Menthol Cigarettes

I guess the arsenic-flavored smokes didn't go over as well?

[FrankR]

I have often thought of the same irony, I was Air Force, all of 19 years old, and had never smoked in my life. I worked around missiles, so there was no smoking allowed, even though the majority of the crew were smokers.

So, when a chain-smoking sergeant would walk through 10 times a day and declare a smoke break for the smokers, and the non-smokers keep on working...my immaturity told me to bum a cigarette and I started a 25-year habit.

At first, I just played the role and didn't inhale, and even that was bad; finally I did switch to menthol and started inhaling. Later, I switched to Marlboro country.

Also, the BX sold cigs for 17-cents a pack, $1.70 a carton, so it was cheap and accessable.

But, I finally quit about 12 years ago, and I'm glad. I'm so glad the governments have joined in to protect us all from the dangers of nicotine now./sarc

However, I do defend the right of people to make up their own mind about tobacco - in today's world everyone knows the dangers of smoking but this is just another product made by another company out to make a profit. I say either leave the industry alone, or completely ban it...but the hypocrisy of slamming the industry/product and taxing the hell out of it only displays government (read: liberal) greed and stupidity.

Here's a hint: the Pelosi/Reid congress is trying to do the same thing to the oil companies they did for tobacco.

[STONEWALLS]

I remember those little 4-paks of smokes...guys would swap them around to get the brand they wanted...non smokers would swap for peaches and pound cake...airlines even gave out free 4-paks in the early 1960s, ostinsibly to keep us calm....widespread flying was just beginning then.

[Dudoight]

“Are they going to force junk food producers to make their products taste like crap, too?”

I was thinking the same thing. The government has evolved into something I simply cannot comprehend.

[compound w]

When I was in high school and college (ages ago) nearly everyone I knew smoked Newports. Back then we didn’t yet know it was gay.

[laotzu]

..and the non-smokers keep on working

That is how I started smoking as well.

In a former life as an electrician, I was often assigned jobs because I wasn't smoking. The boss would come to the shop looking for an available person. Bill was on a coffee break, and Rudy was on a cigarette break, but laotzu!! you're not doing a damn thing!!!

[vetvetdoug]

We inspected the C-Rats during the early 1970's and had to remove the cigarettes from every box. At one warehouse we had a pile of cigarettes that reached to the ceiling.

Salem softness freshens your taste,
Softly freshens,
Salem softness freshens your taste,
Smoke Salem cigarettes...

[mowowie]

Newports were the cool cigs to smoke when i was a Teen in the mid 80’s.
I used to smoke them too until one morning i woke up hacking up blood.

[andy58-in-nh]

Dear Health Nazis:

Either get Congress to pass a law making cigarettes illegal (thus forgoing the tax revenue derived thereon) or SHUT THE **** UP.

Cordially,

Sick To Death of Your Whining

[wolfcreek]

Members of my family smoked but, I actually got started by using a big magnifying glass to spark up butts people would throw out in our ally. I was just a stupid kid then and didn't figure out I needed to quit until 35 yrs later.

It's been about 10 weeks now.