A new trend, among middle-schoolers across the country, is "smoking" Smarties candy. How do you smoke Smarties candy?
(It's really pretty simple. I just googled smoking Smarties candy on You Tube and watched a very informative, instructional video given by a pre-teen boy in his living room)
First, crush the candy while it's still in the wrapper, then open the ends only, and drag on it as if it were a cigarette or joint. When you exhale through your mouth and nose, it looks just like you're smoking... Smarties candy.
Although kids aren't getting high off this, and there aren't any life-threatening concerns, there are definite health ramifications. According to Mark Shikowitz, an ENT doctor at Schneider Children's Hospital, irritation of the nose, throat and lungs are just a few.
I can't help but wonder, is this just "kids being kids", or could this be considered a "drug related behavior"?
Will this lead to kids smoking? Or is this more along the lines of chewing gum in class, and spitting spit balls through plastic straws?
Are we becoming a hyper-sensitive society? And if we are, is there good reason to be?
Some schools are taking this pretty seriously and banning the candy altogether.
Some parents think it's typical of our punitive society, and that more focus needs to be put on education.
I remember those little candy cigarettes, and how cool it felt to simulate smoking when I was a kid. (My favorite were the gum ones, actually. I loved that you could blow a little puff of "smoke" out the end)
I also smoked.
Did I smoke because nobody made me kick the candy cigarette habit, or did I smoke because nobody told me how unhealthy it was to smoke?
What I will never figure out is how come when I tried my first cigarette, and I coughed and I hacked and I threw up in my mouth a little- why did I try it again?
Want help quitting or know someone who does? Call 1.800.QUIT.NOW (800.784.8669)
You can learn a lot from a dummy.
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