Sales of cigarettes with WS-3, a synthetic cooling agent, in an area with a menthol cigarette sales prohibition.

introductionThe synthetic cooling agent WS-3 (N-ethyl-p-menthane-3-carboxamide) elicits a cooling sensation without a minty taste. In areas with menthol cigarette sales prohibitions, such as California, tobacco companies have marketed cigarettes with WS-3 as alternatives to menthol cigarettes. We examined sales of cigarettes with WS-3 in NielsenIQ's Retail Measurement Services Pacific division, which includes the state of California.

methodsWith NielsenIQ data, we estimated sales of cigarettes with WS-3 from June 2022 to March 2024. We compared the NielsenIQ Pacific division, which includes California and two less populous states (Washington and Oregon), to all other divisions combined. Within the Pacific division, we compared trends in sales of cigarettes with WS-3 to menthol cigarettes.

resultsIn our study period, cigarettes with WS-3 appeared in the NielsenIQ Pacific division approximately 2 weeks before the implementation of California's menthol cigarette prohibition in December 2022 and did not appear elsewhere in substantive quantities (>5 cartons) until Spring 2023. Most (87.0%) sales of cigarettes with WS-3 during the study period occurred in the Pacific division, peaking near 19 000 weekly carton sales. Weekly sales of Pacific division menthol cigarettes dropped by more than 100 000 cartons in 2 months after California's prohibition.

conclusionIn the Pacific division, California's menthol cigarette prohibition appears to have moderately reduced sales of menthol cigarettes and spurred sales of cigarettes with WS-3. Observationally, these sales data suggest that cigarettes with WS-3 only partially displaced the declining sales of menthol cigarettes. Future research could examine reasons for and experiences using cigarettes with WS-3. IMPLICATIONS: Tobacco companies explicitly marketed cigarettes with the synthetic cooling agent WS-3 as replacements for menthol cigarettes. Sales data from NielsenIQ's Pacific division suggest that California's menthol cigarette prohibition may have reduced sales of menthol cigarettes and spurred the introduction of cigarettes with WS-3 into the marketplace. The findings suggest that sales of cigarettes with WS-3 did not fully offset the decrease in menthol cigarette sales.