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.