Candy Cigarettes: Trick? or just Treat?
A candy shop in a shopping mall near my home sells candy cigarettes; I could hardly believe my eyes. I snapped a picture with my cell phone so readers know I'm not hallucinating.
Amazingly, I searched around on the web and could find very little public policy and even scientific information about these products. I remember seeing these as a child, but I thought they would be banned by now. Apparently not. I couldn't find any confirmation of a statewide ban in Minnesota nor one at the federal level. A Wikipedia page lists North Dakota as being a state with a ban, but I am shocked that this is not national policy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_cigarette
When I looked around, most of the information I found when searching for "candy" and "cigarettes" was about actual cigarettes-real ones-that are candy flavored. I must be completely out of the loop. I had no idea these existed either.
I've known lots of smokers in my life. I have yet to meet one who is happy he or she picked up the habit. In fact, almost all of them talk of their addiction with great regret and have tried to quit numerous times.
But science is all about evidence. I am making an assumption that candy that looks like a cigarette-and that comes in a box that resembles a pack of cigarettes-might encourage smoking in children; it seems an intuitive and logical supposition to me. But I'd like to have some facts. If anyone knows the scientific evidence on this issue, please post a comment.
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Yes, the disturbing facts about CANDY cigarettes are astounding that they arent publicly looked at the same way CARTOONs depicted smoking are! I smoked for 4 years, thankfully i have learned my lesson and quit two years ago... I happen to be somebody who never actually had candy cig's as a child, but the fact remains that they promote smoking to be glamorous, and make kids think they are like their parents and adults... which we all know that kids around the age of 5 up until 18 or even the 20s want nothing more than to be seen as adults, and treated as such. so obviously the big tobacco companies are experts at marketting, and at one time were allowed free range with product placement for many years. and somehow candy smokes have slipped through the cracks.
something even more disturbing about this, is I found a site with people who are PLEASANTLY remembering how they loved candy cigarettes... the only thing they seem to leave out is that they have been on two packs a day since age 12, and as fond as they are of the candy, they have done nothing in the way of discouraging other parents from having their kids follow in their footsteps.
heres the link.
http://www.oldtimecandy.com/candy-cigarettes.htm
also, about your question... the scientific research that has been done is failry comprehensive, but like the source of the research, the results have slipped through the cracks and nobody seems to pay much attention to this.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2007.04.006
exactly what you are looking for I think. :)