Menthol cigarettes linked to 10 million extra smokers, hundreds of thousands of premature deaths

Authors Thuy Le (CAsToR New Investigator) and David Mendez, PhD (CAsToR Co-Investigator)

Menthol cigarettes contributed to 378,000 premature deaths in the United States between 1980 to 2018, according to a new University of Michigan study. “Our results indicate that mentholated tobacco products have had a significant impact on public health and could continue to pose a substantial health risk,” — David Mendez, associate professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy at the U-M School of Public Health. “Previous studies have shown that menthol experimentation is positively associated with progression to established smoking. In addition, menthol smokers are less likely to quit smoking than nonmenthol smokers. These observations were incorporated in the model and are the key factors in determining the outcomes of our study,” — Thuy Le, Department of Health Management and Policy at U-M's School of Public Health.

CAsToR e-Announcements (February 2021)

A bi-monthly e-newsletter of CAsToR highlights, events and more.

Dear CAsToR members and colleagues, We are excited to share with you our first CAsToR e-Announcements. This will be a monthly e-newsletter where we will share highlights, events, research progress and more. If you have any news or updates you would like us to share, please send an email to Amanda Dudley (aidudley@umich.edu). Hope everyone is doing well and please stay safe. Dr. Rafael Meza, CAsToR co-Principal Investigator

Smoking, tobacco use among teens continues to drop even as use of e-cigs grows

ANN ARBOR: Despite the increase in use of e-cigarettes among adolescents, cigarette and smokeless tobacco prevalence declined more rapidly between 2012 and 2019 than in previous periods, according to a new study.

“While the increases in e-cigarettes are indeed concerning and is something we need to address and reverse, the decreases in other tobacco products, in particular, cigarettes—the most concerning form of tobacco use—are accelerating,“ said lead researcher Rafael Meza, associate professor of epidemiology and global health at U-M's School of Public Health.