Demographic characteristics associated with smokers of Marlboro, Newport and Pall Mall in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) 2002 – 2013

Background: Marlboro is the most popular brand in America, while Newport is the largest selling menthol brand.  Pall Mall has seen substantial growth since 2007 when it was repositioned as a lower cost cigarette.  We assessed whether the demographic profiles of brand users have changed over time.

Methods:  Data come from 164,758 current smokers who reported a current brand of cigarettes in the 2002-2013 NSDUH surveys. We assessed demographic characteristics among current smokers of these brands.

Results:  75,524 current smokers reported smoking Marlboro, 28,433 reported Newport, and 3,090 reported Pall Mall (2002 to 2013).  Among Marlboro users, the proportion of 12-17 year olds declined substantially (6.3% in 2002 vs. 2.9% in 2013).  The proportion of Marlboro smokers reporting smoking over 15 cigarettes per day (cpd) decreased from 35.2% to 26.7% during this period.  The proportion of 12-17 year old Newport users declined between 2002 (12.2%) and 2013 (3.6%).  Nearly half of Newport smokers were non-Hispanic Black.  The proportion of Newport smokers consuming 1-5 cpd increased from 39.0% in 2002 to 45.1% in 2013.  Over 75% of Pall Mall smokers were over 35 years of age and 43% report smoking over 15 cpd. 

Conclusions: From a public health perspective, these results suggest a need to continue monitoring changes in demographics and smoking behaviors. Marlboro remains the most popular cigarette brand on the market today.   Newport is the largest menthol brand on the market, but most Newport consumers smoke between 1-5 cigarettes per day.  Pall Mall smokers are older, heavier smokers.