Air refresher? Menthol cigarette accessory marketing in the USA and parallels in countries with menthol bans

Introduction

Tobacco menthol accessories1–3 (eg, aroma cards) are used to add flavour to non-menthol cigarettes4 and often fall out of the scope of menthol cigarette regulations.3 Growing concern exists that their use in jurisdictions that have enacted menthol cigarette bans may undermine the policies’ public health impacts.1 5–8 Ultimately, they may maintain cigarette initiation and progression to regular use,9 10 dependence9–11 and delay smoking cessation.9 10

Menthol policy landscape

Traditionally, cigarettes are flavoured through two primary mechanisms: (1) directly to the tobacco blend and (2) the inclusion of a capsule (also marketed as menthol crush beads) in the cigarette filter, which can be crushed to release menthol during use.3 After the implementation of menthol bans,…

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