(NewsNation) — One-quarter of menthol cigarette smokers kick the habit within one to two years of bans being imposed on the minty variation, according to a new study.

The research, which was published Wednesday in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, evaluated the effects of real-world or hypothesized menthol cigarette bans against the likelihood of a smoker kicking the addiction.

Menthol smokers were more likely to report having quit smoking than non-menthol smokers in the two years after a menthol ban, according to the research.

Those involved in the research believe the findings suggest banning menthol cigarettes promotes smoking cessation and “has the potential to improve public health.”

Menthol cigarettes are banned in Canada, Ethiopia, the European Union, Moldova, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and some areas of the United States, including California, the District of Columbia, and Massachusetts.

In December, White House officials said they would take more time to review a plan from U.S. health regulators to ban menthol cigarettes.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had spent years developing the plan to eliminate menthol, estimating it could prevent 300,000 to 650,000 smoking deaths over several decades. Most of those preventable deaths would be among Black Americans, who disproportionately smoke menthols.

Previous FDA efforts on menthol have been derailed by tobacco industry pushback or competing political priorities across several administrations. The latest delay comes amid lingering worries from some Democrats about President Joe Biden’s prospects in a rematch against Donald Trump.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.