The European ban on menthol flavored cigarettes and shag is clearly having an effect. More menthol smokers have quit thanks to the ban, according to a new international survey among Dutch smokers.
Menthol cigarettes have been banned throughout the EU since May 2020. Scientists behind the long-running International Tobacco Control study have now examined the first effects of the ban. Have menthol smokers renounced their addiction completely or have they switched to regular cigarettes?
The conclusion can be read today in the medical journal Tobacco Control and reads: yes, menthol smokers quit substantially more often than non-menthol smokers. Nearly 26 percent of menthol smokers gave up smoking after the ban, compared to ‘only’ 14 percent of regular smokers. A difference of 12 percentage points.
Pretty simple
The difference is even more striking in the number of attempts to quit: two-thirds of menthol smokers have tried to quit since the ban versus about half of regular smokers. That is 17 percentage points more. At the same time, a third of menthol smokers still smoke menthol cigarettes or shag despite the European ban.
For the international study, more than 1,300 Dutch smokers over the age of 18 were questioned, both before the ban and two moments afterwards. It is no coincidence that our country was chosen, says Marc Willemsen, professor of tobacco control policy at Maastricht University and co-author of the study.
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Every year, the Trimbos Institute and Maastricht University conduct questionnaires among Dutch smokers to measure the effects of tobacco policy. That makes it quite easy to compare the situation before and after the menthol ban.”
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The industry will always try to find loopholes to get around such a ban
Willemsen is pleased with the results. These confirm the results of recent studies into a similar Canadian menthol ban. “The most important finding is that the ban will have behavioral effects in the form of fewer smokers and more attempts to quit. That is what the European Commission intended.”
The new research, to which the Lung Fund, KWF and the Heart Foundation, among others, contributed, offers countries that are also considering a menthol ban a helping hand, the expert says. “With two very different countries showing the same results, such a ban almost certainly makes sense. In the Netherlands, the effects of the ban turned out to be even stronger than in Canada.”
No miracle cure
At the same time, the menthol ban is not a panacea: a third of menthol smokers have continued to smoke. Willemsen, who, in addition to being a professor of tobacco control policy, is also head of tobacco program at the Trimbos Institute, does have an explanation. “The ban had a long lead-in time and was announced well in advance by the European Commission.”
He explains that other flavors were banned first and then menthol as of May 2020. “As a result, the tobacco industry has had a lot of time to anticipate the ban. A variety of accessories have been introduced that allow smokers to add menthol flavor to cigarettes. For example via drops or special filters. Quite a number of smokers do that too, they say in our study.” Willemsen and his colleagues are therefore arguing for extending the ban and banning these accessories.
E-cigarettes
The researchers see lessons for the upcoming ban on flavors in e-cigarettes. “The industry will always try to find loopholes to get around such a ban. Politicians should pay close attention to that.” Professor Willemsen mentions the taste ban for e-cigarettes in the US. “Due to the fact that the ban was not sufficiently clearly defined in the law, disposable e-cigarettes were not covered. There was a real run on that, with all the negative consequences that entailed.” These e-cigarettes are also extremely popular in and around secondary schools in the Netherlands.
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