Researcher Gets $1.3 Million to Study Menthol

The U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products have granted Amy Cohn, a researcher at the Stephenson Cancer Center at OU Medicine, $1.3 million to study menthol.

Cohn will investigate the link between menthol and young adults’ smoking habits. According to Cohn, young adults who started smoking with menthol cigarettes expressed a more positive experience than those who started smoking with nonmenthol cigarettes.

“Menthol cigarettes are disproportionately used by several at-risk populations, including African Americans, young people, Hispanics and women,” Cohn said in a press statement.

“There are a lot of hypotheses that a ban on menthol would reduce the public health impact of cigarette smoking, which we know is a very strong risk factor for cancer and other diseases. Our research will help the FDA make decisions in its regulatory efforts.”