Michael Kotlyar
University of Minnesota, MN·Public Health & Epidemiology
Several states and cities have banned menthol cigarettes, and more bans are proposed. Studies suggest these bans reduce smoking among menthol smokers.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Pharmacology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
nicotine pouches
menthol cigarettes
menthol ban
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2031
What they work on
- Test whether people who smoke menthol cigarettes take up nicotine pouches more than medicinal nicotine, using a randomized 6-week study of 252 participants in an experimental marketplace.
- Determine whether flavored nicotine pouches substitute for non-menthol cigarettes more than unflavored pouches, by comparing simulated bans on all pouch flavors, bans exempting menthol pouches, and no flavor ban.
- Measure how a simulated menthol cigarette ban changes pouch use, cigarette use, biomarkers of exposure, motivation to quit, and product ratings, compared with a control where menthol cigarettes remain available.
More about the research
However, many keep smoking by switching to non-menthol cigarettes. A less harmful outcome would be switching to products that are not burned. Nicotine pouches are one such product: they contain no tobacco leaf and are neither smoked nor inhaled, so they likely rank among the least harmful tobacco products. Because menthol smokers tend to prefer mint or menthol flavors, a key question is whether pouch flavors determine how well pouches can replace menthol cigarettes.
Why it matters
Policymakers banning menthol cigarettes need to know what smokers will use instead. By showing how nicotine pouches and their flavors affect switching away from cigarettes, this work could build a scientific basis for regulating these products. It could help shape flavor policies that reduce harm for people who smoke menthol cigarettes. The study also notes that separate research is needed on effects in youth.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Dina Jones
University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL·Public Health & Epidemiology·Early-career
Define how momentary negative mood and nicotine craving relate to smoking lapse within individuals, using phone-based ecological momentary assessment in up to 150 adults who smoke menthol cigarettes during a planned quit attempt.
Jason D Robinson
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Compare quit rates after six weeks of varenicline versus dual nicotine replacement therapy (patch plus lozenge) among 2,000 Texas smokers in a virtually delivered SMART trial, confirming abstinence by breath carbon monoxide.
Neal Doran
University of California-San Diego, CA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Identify modifiable social, contextual and individual risk factors that predict e-cigarette initiation and progression in children, using repeated assessments from the ABCD cohort of youth ages 9 to 19.
The school
University of Minnesota: 88 labs on PI Pages, $1.4B a year on research, 722 research doctorates a year.
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