Smokers of menthol cigarettes may have a harder time kicking their addiction than smokers of non-mentholated cigarettes, HealthDay News reported Sept. 25.

Researchers said that menthol cigarettes don't appear to be any more harmful than regular cigarettes, even though black smokers are more likely to smoke menthol brands than whites, and have disproportionately higher rates of cancer and other smoking-related diseases despite smoking less.

"However, there is some evidence that [menthols] may be harder to quit," said lead researcher Mark J. Pletcher of the University of California at San Francisco.

The study on 1,535 smokers found that 69 percent of those who smoked menthols in 1985 were still smoking in 2000, compared to 54 percent of non-menthol smokers. The authors said that the variation seemed to be tied to the fact that black smokers were less likely to try to quit smoking.

"Menthol smokers were less likely to quit and more likely to relapse," Pletcher said, perhaps because menthols taste better than regular cigarettes. Pletcher suggested that menthol smokers may need more support when they try to quit.

The research was published in the Sept. 25, 2006 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.