Community survey studies have shown that adolescents and young adults start to experiment smoking with menthol cigarettes. However, the issue of how menthol prompts the acquisition of nicotine consumption and facilitates progression to addictive smoking has received little experimental attention due to ethical concerns. In this report, we used a rat model of nicotine addiction to demonstrate an enhancing effect of menthol on nicotine consumption. Specifically, menthol-treated adolescent rats, compared their control counterparts, learnt significantly faster lever press responses for nicotine self administration. Menthol pretreatment further enhanced nicotine self-administration under a higher response demand. These findings present empirical evidence for menthol’s role in the start and development of tobacco addiction.