Another conspiracy theory dashed
Thursday, July 17, 2008 I have been asked to comment on a story that appears in some newspapers (and on the BBC website) today: "Menthol has been used to make some US cigarette brands more appealing to the young, say researchers" (see HERE).
I don't really have much to say on the subject. Obviously, I have no idea what the manufacturers talk about in the privacy of their research labs. All I know is, the tobacco industry is one of the most highly-regulated industries in the world and there is virtually nothing it can do without the approval of the authorities, so for the story to be spun as an example of the immorality of Big Tobacco is rather nauseating.
Funnily enough, when I was 16, and one or two of my friends smoked, the only brand I quite liked was "cool, clean Consulate ... Britain's largest selling menthol cigarette". I only smoked the odd one but I liked it more than a non-menthol cigarette because it had an edge, a flavour, that I could actually taste.
I'm not sure it was "as cool as a mountain stream", as the ads would have us believe, but to my tastebuds it was an improvement on a regular cigarette. Despite that, I never got hooked so the menthol made no difference whatsoever.
Truth is, I am struggling to think of any smokers I know who prefer menthol cigarettes. And yet, if this allegation is correct, surely lots of people would be smoking menthol flavoured tobacco?
Frankly, it sounds like yet another conspiracy theory. Lucky for the researchers, it must be a slow news day.
Reader Comments (8)
Here is some bed time reading for you Simon. It seems they are aimed at women, the young and Afro-Amercians. Seems in this PC world you cannot win.
"The marketing of menthol cigarettes in the United States: Populations, messages, and channels"
http://www.ntrjournal.org/sutton.pdf
They turned me onto Berkeley menthols when I was past 40, impressionable young chump that I am
Never liked 'em.
My old ma switched to Consulate in the early 70's. Prior to that I had been quite happy to steal her Rothmans. While my ma might have been happy with the switch, it made my smoking habit more dangerous as I was forced to steal my dad's unfiltered Texans, or his Lucky Strikes.
Let the record show that I was 11 at the time. Exactly the impressionable youth the anti-tobacco cultists are whining about.
No surprise to learn that they are wrong.
Again.
My father smoked park drive, my mother menthol,
I stole my father's park drive, I never could stand menthol.
My brother and sister never smoked.
Simon Simon Simon
You say "all I know is the the tobacco industry is one of the most highly regulated in the world and there is virtually nothing they can do with out agreeing it with the authorities"
You do live in a fantasy world. Have a brief coversation with your paymasters. Ask them what regulations there are on what can be put in a cigarette. There are none. Cigarettes are unregulated products. Food is massively more regulated. It is impossible to think of a consumer product less regulated than a cigarette stick.
Wake up. Learn more about the industry you are paid by and don't spout ill informed nonsense.
EM
Eric Eric Eric
Simon is quite right. It is rigorously self-regulated, and it would be a hard task to find any industry more committed to quality control.Think about it for just a tiny moment: they produce billions of cigarettes and each one tastes exactly like the last. The same cannot be said for food, or even beer or wine.
Since you mention food, perhaps you already know that there are over 10,000 chemicals in pre-packaged meals.With regulation like that I suppose we ought to be grateful...
It's time to take off the blinkers, and put more research time in. And you should stay away from pharmaceutical companies, SCoTH, ASH and the rest of the NRT Sales Division while you carry out your research.
Open your mind, Grasshopper, and you will learn much.
Colin -
Re:
"Open your mind, Grasshopper, and you will learn much......."
Is it not possible that our politicians' minds have been just a little TOO open these past years ?
Now, they're so full of rubbish, there's no room left for anything else..........like Common Sense, Common Humanity, and Discrimination ('bout time we rehabilitated THAT one !).
And what about Common Purpose, Martin. What about Common Purpose?
http://www.tpuc.org/node/107
Anyone who may think this is far fetched should Google common purpose and look at the home site for Common Purpose itself.