title: Menthol cigarette pricing at military and community retail outlets in the United States.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cigarette prices at military exchanges historically have been discounted. DoD Instruction 1330.9 has mandated that prices be within 5% of the price offered in the local community since 2001. Because minorities are highly represented in the military, we determined whether menthol cigarette prices, the leading choice of African Americans, were compliant with the instruction.
  
  
  METHODS
  We collected, via telephone, menthol cigarette price data from 48 randomly selected US military installation exchanges and matched local area Walmarts. We collected prices after taxes to determine the cost to consumer. Newport was selected as the index brand for menthol cigarettes because it is the leading and second leading brand smoked by African Americans and by Hispanics, respectively and has the second overall highest market share in the US.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Smokers purchasing menthols at exchanges would realize average savings of 22.78%. There were no significant differences in savings based on military service (F = 1.850, p = 0.152) or US Census Division (F = 1.226, p = 0.311: data not shown). In addition, not a single exchange price was compliant with the DoD instruction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Newport menthol cigarettes at military exchanges cost substantially less than the nearest Walmart, with an average savings of 23%. Our findings demonstrate that menthol cigarettes are substantially discounted on military installations, in a manner similar to other cigarette prices, and that DoD Instruction 1330.09 is not enforced.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biobehavioral Health Research, NDRI-MA, NDRI, National Development and Research Institutes, Inc, 1920 West 143rd Street, Suite 120, Leawood, KS 66224, USA. carlosposton@hopehri.com
authors.forename: Walker S C
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Poston
authors.forename: Sara A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Jahnke
authors.forename: Christopher K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Haddock
authors.forename: Melissa L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hyder
authors.forename: Jennifer E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Harry A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Lando
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kaipust
mesh_terms: D003132:Commerce; D006801:Humans; D008610:Menthol; D008889:Military Personnel; D012907:Smoking / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D062789:Tobacco Products / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D008610:Menthol