FDA's Proposed Final Rule to ban menthol cigarettes asserts that "menthol cigarettes contribute to greater nicotine dependence in youth and young adults than non-menthol cigarettes." However, none of the publications referenced included young adults. To provide empirical evidence on the subject, we examine smoking frequency and Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI) dependence among 2,194 young adult (ages 18-25 years) menthol and non-menthol smokers from 31 online survey samples. Unpaired t-tests examined if daily smoking or the proportion of daily smokers who are low or high dependence on the HSI vary by menthol cigarette smoking status. Young adult menthol smokers were less likely to be daily smokers than young adult non-menthol smokers. There were no differences in the percentages of daily menthol and non-menthol smokers categorized as low or high dependence on the HSI. Smoking menthol cigarettes, therefore, does not appear to be associated with greater cigarette dependence among young adults than smoking non-menthol cigarettes.
Keywords: HSI; Heaviness of Smoking Index; cigarettes; dependence; menthol; young adults.