Studies and Concepts Under Review

CRE is requesting public comment on its review of the Hersey study. CRE has made a number of conclusions including:

Results (page 407).  Statements made regarding the increased use of menthol cigarettes and the bar charts at Figure 1, appear to be incorrect.  The authors state that “…between 2000 and 2002, the percentage of smokers who regularly used menthol cigarettes increased significantly…from 40% to 47.4% – an increase of 18.5%.”  Taken at face value, this only represents a 7.4% increase.  Figure 1 was further studied:  the 2002 and 2000 NYTS Code Books and data were reviewed to verify the “Total” percentages of menthol smokers.  For the year 2002, 1,661 students responded positive to smoking menthol cigarettes while 1,866 students responded negative to smoking menthol cigarettes.  The 2002 “Total” percentage in Figure 1 was therefore confirmed, 1,661/3527 = 47.2%.  However, for the year 2000, 2,701 students responded positive to smoking menthol cigarettes while 3,674 students responded negative to smoking menthol cigarettes.  Therefore, the 2000 “Total” percentage in Figure 1 was found to be 2,701/6,375 = 42.3%.  This resulted in an increase of menthol cigarette use of only 4.9% between the years 2000 and 2002 (as opposed to the stated 18.5% and illustrated 7.4% annotated in the study).

See the attachment below for the complete CRE Analysis