New Zealand is “engaged in an extraordinarily important natural experiment to see if these significant policy approaches, which have not been implemented elsewhere, succeed in driving down cigarette smoking, as many experts think they’re likely to do,” said Clifford Douglas, director of the Tobacco Research Network at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives as a result of the legislation, New Zealand’s Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said. She added that the country’s health system would save billions of dollars from the treatment of smoking-related illnesses.

David Mendez, a lead author of the Michigan study and a health management and policy professor at the university, said menthol cigarettes reduce the irritation and harshness of smoking through their smooth, minty flavor profile. Because the cigarette user does not cough or feel the less healthy aspects of smoking, they are less inclined to quit, he said. Menthol also works with nicotine to enhance nicotine's addictive effects. Banning menthol will save thousands of lives, Mendez said. “This is the closest we have been,“ Mendez said of the proposed prohibition.