Menthol Cigarettes

A menthol cigarette is a cigarette flavored with the compound menthol, a substance which triggers the cold-sensitive nerves in the skin without actually providing a drop in temperature. Menthol cigarettes have also been shown to inhibit nicotine metabolism, causing "systemic enhancement in exposure to nicotine". First developed as the Spud Brand

menthol cigarette in 1924, the idea didn't become popular until the Axton-Fisher Tobacco Company acquired the patent in 1927, marketing them nationwide as "Spud Menthol Cooled Cigarettes". Even then, it remained the only menthol cigarette on the market until the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company created the Kool brand in 1933. Not coincidentally, this was one year after Spud became one of the top five best-selling cigarette brands. R.J. Reynolds Company launched the first menthol filter-tip cigarettes in 1950 under the Salem brand. Other brands include Newport (#1 menthol in the U.S.), Marlboro Menthol, American Spirits Menthol, Consulate, and Camel Menthol. Menthol smokers take shallower and fewer "drags", or inhalations, but the difference in blood pressure and expired carbon monoxide for nonmenthol smokers appears to be minimal. In