Cigarettes

A cigarette is a tube-shaped tobacco product made from finely cut, dried tobacco leaves wrapped in thin paper. It may also contain added ingredients, such as flavors. A cigarette is lit on one end and smoked, and the smoke is usually breathed into the lungs.

Cigarettes contain nicotine, which is addictive, and many chemicals that can cause cancer. These chemicals are harmful to both people who smoke and those who breathe in secondhand smoke. Smoking cigarettes can lead to addiction and cause many types of cancer, including cancer of the lungs, mouth, throat, and other parts of the body.

Smoking also causes serious health problems such as heart disease, stroke, many types of cancers, and lung diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Menthol Cigarettes

Menthol is found in peppermint and similar plants and can also be made in a lab. It changes how the brain senses taste and pain. In cigarettes, menthol creates a cooling feeling in the throat and lungs, making smoke feel smoother and easier to inhale. Tobacco companies add menthol to make products feel less harsh and more appealing, especially to young people and new users. Menthol is used in many tobacco products, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, hookah, smokeless tobacco, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco products.

Federal law bans most flavored cigarettes, but menthol is allowed. As a result, nearly all cigarettes sold in the U.S. contain some menthol. Cigarettes labeled “menthol” usually contain more.

Menthol Lures and Nicotine Hooks

Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco. Menthol increases nicotine addiction by boosting its effects on the brain.

Menthol cigarettes can make quitting harder. People who smoke menthol cigarettes are less likely to quit than those who smoke non-menthol cigarettes. Some menthol cigarettes now contain higher nicotine levels.

Low-Yield (Light) Cigarettes

Low-yield cigarettes were often labeled “light,” “low,” “mild,” “low-nicotine”, or “low tar.” Tobacco companies marketed these cigarettes as safer than regular cigarettes.

Many people chose them because they believed they were less harmful. However, there is no strong scientific evidence that low-yield cigarettes are safer. Because these labels were misleading, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 banned the use of these terms on tobacco product labels. The same products can still be sold using different labels.

Low-Yield Doesn’t Mean Low Risk

There is no such thing as a safe cigarette. Low-yield cigarettes carry the same serious health risks as regular cigarettes.

The only proven way to reduce the risk of smoking-related disease is to quit smoking completely.

Resources

• Quitting cigarettes isn’t easy but support is available
• Discover how tobacco companies use flavoring to attract addiction: Attracting Addiction Nevada

References

^{1 National Institute for Health (2023, October 23). Cigarette Smoking. Retrieved December 26, 2025}

^{2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2024, May 15). Menthol Tobacco Products. Retrieved December 26, 2025}

^{3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2024, December 18). Very Low Nicotine Content Cigarettes. Retrieved December 26, 2025}

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