Though sweet-tasting cigarettes with flavors such as vanilla, strawberry or clove are now banned, a University researcher is saying the ban does not go far enough.

President Barack Obama signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in June, which banned all flavors of cigarettes – except menthol.

Jessica Muilenburg, researcher and assistant professor in the University’s College of Public Health, recently completed a study of the smoking habits of more than 4,000 middle and high school students. Muilenburg and Jerome Legge, also a University researcher, found menthol smokers consistently smoked a higher amount of tobacco than non-menthol smokers.

“I think the intention [of the legislation] was to keep cigarettes out of the hands of minors,” Muilenburg said in a telephone interview Friday. “The thinking was that the flavored cigarettes are more likely to be smoked by kids who aren’t allowed to smoke.”

But Muilenburg said the ban has been ineffective at its goal of combating underage smoking.

“They need to add menthols to the ban,” she said. A USA Today article last month reported teen smoking overall has declined, but the proportion of teens who smoke menthol cigarettes is up, with about 44 percent of smokers ages 12 to 17 smoking menthol cigarettes.

Menthol serves as flavoring, making the cigarette taste less harsh.

“[A ban on menthol cigarettes] may keep young people from smoking,” Muilenburg said. “[Menthol] cools the throat, and it’s an additive that makes the cigarette taste less hard. A lot of kids may be more susceptible because it’s a flavored cigarette, and it might not taste as harsh as a non-flavored cigarette.”

But some students said they don’t think the ban will be effective.

“People are going to find a way to smoke anyway,” said Tori Weaver, a student from Richmond Hill.

Thomas Travis, a freshman from Ringgold, said though the ban has not personally affected him, he has friends who disagree with the legislation.

“I know [someone] who was really upset about it, and he’s been hoarding them, and he’s probably down to his last one now,” Travis said.

Muilenburg said she thinks cigarettes should not be legal at all.

“I think that it’s killing a lot of people, in terms of a public health message,” she said “I think [the ban] is a start. Any ban [on cigarettes] is a good thing.”