Is it Harder for Menthol Smokers to Stop Smoking

Recently, a study found menthol cigarettes may be harder to stop smoking. Menthol cigarettes appear to be even more addictive than the standard varieties. Additionally, socioeconomics also play a big part when it comes to stop smoking.

The study results indicated that blacks and Hispanics who smoke menthol cigarettes have lower longterm quit rates than people in the same category had to stop smoking non-mentholated cigarettes. However, unemployed whites had lower menthol quit rates after one month. Also, earlier studies showed that menthol-cigarette smokers usually have higher levels of nicotine in their blood streams than people who smoke regular cigarettes.

Kunal K. Gandhi, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson medical School, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, suggests the study indicated more nicotine and toxins per cigarette may be inhaled by people who smoke mentholated cigarettes.

Economic stability may also play a role in what people smoke, Gandhi and his colleagues suggest. Low-income smokers might want to get the most from each cigarette and take a higher number of puffs. Or, they might inhale deeper, which is easier when smoking menthol cigarettes. The cooling effects of menthol helps tone down the harsh nicotine and tobacco toxins.

The study was conducted with 1,688 smokers who wanted to stop smoking through a four year time frame. One-third of the participants were white and smoked menthol cigarettes, two-thirds were Latino and 81 percent the African Americans did so.

The black menthol cigarette smokers had just one-third stop smoking success rates after 30 days as those people who smoked non-menthol cigarettes. The findings were nearly identical among the Latino participants. Even at six months out, menthol smokers were less likely to stop the smoking habit.

Ghandi proposed that smokers who smoke menthol cigarettes can find themselves very addicted, even if they smoke a low amount of cigarettes on a daily basis. Mentholated cigarette smokers often find themselves waking up at night because of the need to smoke.

A survey completed by the American Legacy Foundation found that economic pressures cause smokers to smoke even more during hard times. Additionally, the survey found that increased smoking was much higher in women then men.

During times of stress, people look for things in their lives to give them immediate pleasure, like alcohol, food, or tobacco. The effects of nicotine can help to boost people out of depression and relax them. Cigarettes can also perk-up people when they are tired and fatigued. But cigarettes can also work the other way, contributing to anxiety and depression.

The mood swing ups and downs of cigarette smoking not withstanding, some 45 million smokers try to kick the habit each year. Only about 2 percent succeed, and among menthol smokers the failure rate is even worse. Obviously a new tool with a new approach to quitting is needed. The recently invented Electronic Cigarette seems to offer the best hope of meeting the need.

E-Cigs look, taste, and feel like real cigarettes. They include a selectable amount of nicotine, but because no tobacco is used, none of the other 4000 addiitives and carcinogins found in real cigarettes are included. Users inhale and exhale what looks like real smoke but is actually odorless water vapor. The nicotine 'hit' when inhaling is very much like a real cigarette.

The quitting help comes when the user gradually reduces the amount of nicotine each time they buy refill cartridges, while at the same time ceasing to use real cigarettes. The quitting process can take 3 weeks, it can take 3 months, it depends on the quitter and how fast he/she wants to get it done.

Summary: Menthol smokers, you're getting more than you bargained for.New research shows that cigarette makers put more nicotine and other additives in menthols. When it comes time to quit, guess who has the toughest time kicking the habit. This article provides the details, and info on a new quit smoking tool that really works.