Candy cigarettes have been portrayed as a harmless part of growing up in many countries and arguments over restrictions on them have often been reduced to questions of government intrusion on individual's rights. The modest evidence on the effects of these products on smoking and health, either published or suppressed, seldom enters the debate. Ultimately, these policy decisions should involve balancing concerns about decensitising children to an addictive carcinogen with the questionable benefit to society of having confectionery available that look like cigarettes.
The tobacco industry has clearly regarded candy cigarettes as more than just confectionery and has recognised the connection between candy cigarettes in young children's hands and real cigarettes in young smokers hands. Accordingly, the tobacco industry enabled confectioners to market candy cigarettes as advertisements directed at "coming up cigaret smokers"
Our analysis of recently available documents makes it clear that tobacco companies cooperated with the manufacturer of candy cigarettes in designing candy products that would effectively promote smoking to children. Additionally, the two versions of the Hofstra study confirm the suppression of data that show the potentially harmful effects of candy cigarettes in promoting smoking to children.
Since the November 1998 settlement between the tobacco industry and 46 state attorney generals, tobacco companies are prohibited from directly or indirectly opposing state or local efforts to impose limitations "on non-tobacco products which are designed to look like tobacco products." Our data, however, suggest a need for more vigorous public health strategies to eliminate the influence of these products on children.
The makers of candy cigarettes have been adroit at neutralising legislative challenges and have tenaciously marketed their products for generations. Nevertheless, the past tactics of the tobacco industry and the makers of candy cigarettes should not stave off efforts to eliminate this potentially harmful practice.
Candy cigarettes have been portrayed as a harmless part of growing up in many countries and arguments over restrictions on them have often been reduced to questions of government intrusion on individual's rights. The modest evidence on the effects of these products on smoking and health, either published or suppressed, seldom enters the debate. Ultimately, these policy decisions should involve balancing concerns about decensitising children to an addictive carcinogen with the questionable benefit to society of having confectionery available that look like cigarettes. The tobacco industry has clearly regarded candy cigarettes as more than just confectionery and has recognised the connection between candy cigarettes in young children's hands and real cigarettes in young smokers hands. Accordingly, the tobacco industry enabled confectioners to market candy cigarettes as advertisements directed at "coming up cigaret smokers" Our analysis of recently available documents makes it clear that tobacco companies cooperated with the manufacturer of candy cigarettes in designing candy products that would effectively promote smoking to children. Additionally, the two versions of the Hofstra study confirm the suppression of data that show the potentially harmful effects of candy cigarettes in promoting smoking to children. Since the November 1998 settlement between the tobacco industry and 46 state attorney generals, tobacco companies are prohibited from directly or indirectly opposing state or local efforts to impose limitations "on non-tobacco products which are designed to look like tobacco products." Our data, however, suggest a need for more vigorous public health strategies to eliminate the influence of these products on children. The makers of candy cigarettes have been adroit at neutralising legislative challenges and have tenaciously marketed their products for generations. Nevertheless, the past tactics of the tobacco industry and the makers of candy cigarettes should not stave off efforts to eliminate this potentially harmful practice.
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