According to a scientific study, flavored cigarettes are more addictive as the flavoring used for making them trigger sensitivity of the brain and makes it crave more nicotine. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration or FDA of US decided to investigate the use of menthol in cigarettes. The primary purpose of e-cigarettes was to reduce the addiction and dependence on tobacco among people who are addicted to it. Now it seems that the e-cigarettes or flavored cigarettes are also harmful for an individual.
Some tests that were done to compare the effects of regular cigarettes and flavored cigarettes have proved it to be a fact that the flavored menthol cigarettes are more addictive than regular tobacco ones. FDA had reported earlier that 40% of the young smoker clan is now using the menthol cigarettes and 30% of the adult smokers in the USA have also turned to it. Slowly, menthol is becoming a favorite of the smokers and replacing regular cigarettes.
Is menthol really increasing nicotine cravings?
The research results of a scientific study published last year in Frontier magazine claimed that menthol cigarettes are indeed more addictive than regular cigarettes. Menthol invokes nicotine cravings by binding itself to a nicotine receptor in the brain. The particular nicotine receptor it binds with is called a7 nicotine acetylcholine receptor. Menthol is capable of changing the way the receptor reacts to nicotine and increases the desire for more nicotine in men and women.
Scientists have also found that menthol triggers reaction from some parts of the brain that are responsible for feelings of pleasure, reward and addiction. The stimulation provided by menthol makes the smokers even more addicted to nicotine. Smokers initially turned to flavored cigarettes with the hope of quitting smoking but now it is evident that quitting this deadly habit would be more difficult for them. FDA is not sanguine that menthol cigarettes contain more additives or harmful substances than the regular cigarettes yet. But the scientists agree that menthol cigarettes can aggravate the cravings for nicotine in smokers.
Surveys show that the people who smoke flavored cigarettes consume more nicotine daily. With time the number of nicotine receptors in their brain increases and makes them even more dependent on this harmful substance. Regular cigarette users can at least cut down the number of cigarettes they have on a daily basis but the flavored cigarette smokers lose this type of control.
A new research conducted on the effects of flavored cigarettes on the young adults and teens has revealed that teenagers who love flavored cigarettes are consuming double the amount of tobacco than the adult smokers. Non-menthol smokers have around 23 cigarettes a week but the menthol smokers have at least 46 cigarettes in one week. This means that the teens are smoking 6-7 cigarettes a day.
The menthol cigarettes are so much in demand due to the misconception that they are less harmful than the regular cigarettes. Flavored cigarette makers are encouraging the public to believe this wrong concept. As a result, teens don’t even feel guilty about smoking so many cigarettes a day. It has also been found that it is during the teenage years when most individuals take to smoking and it develops within a few months into a habit they are unable to quit.
Summary
Smoking is dangerous to health and everyone knows that but the addiction to nicotine is so strong that smokers find it extremely difficult to quit and often even become depressed when they try. Menthol cigarettes are increasing the addiction levels in smokers.