The frong page of the Marketplace section of the July 17, 1998 Wall Street Jounral has an article by Barbara Martinez called "Quiet Controversy: Candy Smokes Sell On" about the candy companies who make them and the anti-tobacco zealots who want them banned. Some interesting highlights.
"Lawmakers and watchdogs aren't sure how much of a threat candy cigarettes pose. Iowa's attonrey general began an investigation into them last year, but dropped it earlier this month after local newspapers and radio talk shows criticized the effort as an expensive candy crackdown.
"...Others, however, suspect candy cigarettes somehow prime children to become smokers when they grow up - or even sooner. "Candy cigarettes desensitize children to the harm of the real thing," says Joseph Zanga, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which represents 53,000 pediatricians in the U.S. and Canada.
"...After spending years on the defensive, Necco and World Candies [makers of candy cigarettes] have become skilled at repelling attacks on their product. In 1990, they fought a bill introduced in Congress that would have banned candy cigarettes nationwide...
"Back in 1991, when California was considering a statewide ban on candy cigarettes, Mr. [World Candie's president, Samuel] Cohen sent a letter to state Sen. Mike Thompson, aruging: "Candy is ordinarily manufactured in different shapes and many forms, and many of them, including products such as Tootsie Rolls, are in cylindrical shapes...Because my seven-year-old daughters eats licorice candy pipes, is she going to smoke a pipe in later years?"
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