Up to one million Brits representing 14% of the smoking population continue to smoke menthol-flavoured cigarettes despite the government banning them in 2020.
According to a new report from the University College London with part funding by Cancer Research UK, smokers are using accessories such as drops and filters to replicate the menthol taste.
Around 15% of the 67,000 people surveyed in May 2023 admitted they bought menthol cigarettes illegally.
Jamie Brown, a UCL professor, wrote: “The UK’s menthol ban does not appear to have been effective- we have found that there are still around one million people who report smoking menthol-flavoured cigarettes in Britain, three years after the ‘ban’ came into force.
“Nor has there been much sign of progress during that period. For an effective ban, menthol and all its analogues and derivatives should be completely prohibited in all tobacco-related products and accessories.”
The government put the ban on flavoured cigarettes to crack down on youth smoking, but those efforts have only been incrementally successful.
Younger smokers were more likely to smoke menthols, with 19% of polled 18 to 24-year-olds using them, down only two percentage points from when the ban came into place in May 2020.
The government is fighting a youth smoking war on two fronts.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced an import levy on vape products in his Spring Budget to tackle underage vaping.
The government also plans to outlaw disposable vapes and certain vape flavours to reduce their appeal to children.
In response to the UCL’s findings, the Local Government Association has called on the central government to help with enforcing the menthol cigarette ban.