Soda shop busted for selling candy smokes

[Hum]

A back-in-the-day soda fountain in St. Paul has been busted for selling cigarettes -- made of candy.

Lynden's, on Hamline Avenue near Cretin-Derham Hall High School, said a city inspections official came in last week and gave the shop a warning and added that a misdemeanor citation -- with a $500 fine -- would be next if the cancer-free confectionery continues to be sold.

"We got busted [Dec. 19] by the City of St. Paul. Oops," the shop Tweeted.

Candy cigarettes, bubble gum cigars and bubblegum made to look like chewing tobacco have been among a host of vintage sugary treats that Lynden's has kept in stock since it opened in April.

"We had no idea," Tobi Lynden said Wednesday, lamenting that she can no longer sell the white candy sticks with the red tips, her best-selling candy item. "We don't want to get on the bad side of St. Paul."

Lynden said nearly all of the candy cigarette purchases were made by adults.

" 'Oh, I had these when I was little,' " she said she would often hear. "We weren't trying to promote smoking or tobacco use of any kind."

And just what would prompt a bureaucrat to ferret out such nefarious activity?

"Somebody from Bloomington called and reported us," Lynden said. "The whole thing is pretty weird."

Robert Humphrey, spokesman or the city's Safety and Inspections Department, said the complaint came to his agency on Dec. 13. An inspector visited Lynden's on Dec. 19 and had the verboten products immediately removed from the sales floor.

In April 2009, a unanimous City Council outlawed candy smokes and cartoon character lighters. The council cited a study showing that these products encouraged youngsters to take up smoking tobacco.

Lynden?s Facebook page has collected dozens of comments decrying the enforcement action and the rationale behind it.

?I just got through a bag of gummy bears,? one person wrote. ? Now I can?t stop thinking about where to find a REAL bear to eat!?

Several countries prohibit the sale of candy cigarettes, including Australia, Canada and Thailand. In the United States, some national retailers have agreed not to sell them. Maine and Tennessee and several local jurisdictions in other states have banned the sale of novelty lighters.

The ordinance was championed by a group of St. Paul teenagers working with the Association for Nonsmokers-Minnesota, which educates youth groups and individuals who want to lobby for anti-tobacco policies.

Humphrey said he gets a complaint "about once a year" concerning the sale of candy cigarettes and other sugary tobacco-themed products in his city.

"We enforce this on a complaint basis," Humphrey said." This isn't taking time away from any major enforcement [actions]."

source

[Rohdekill]

I don't know which is more sad....

.. a ban on candy just because it appears to look like something else

.. or the fact that they have a "candy police" to enforce such a thing.

[compl3x]

It's not a secret that candy cigarettes were/are used to normalise smoking. It's why no tobacco company ever sued a candy maker for using their brand names or package likeness on the packets of candy cigarettes. Hell, they cooperated with them:

Tobacco Cooperated With Candy Cig Makers

[xendrome]

I'm almost positive that the city cannot pass an ordinance for something that isn't illegal under state/federal law. They can issue a resolution urging the retail stores to stop selling the items, but it isn't an actual ordinance and enforceable by law. I'd love to own this store and have them come in and tell me that I cannot sell a product that isn't illegal in any way.

[Growled Member]

It's such a sad little world we live in. We have candy police now.

[+ir0nw0lf Subscriber²]

I'll smoke to that! ... j/k You can find places all over the net that sell novelty candy and these candy cigs are a staple in them. I still have some at home still wrapped up. Shame people have to narc out places like this.

[redvamp128]

Then they should also shut down Walmart as well as most gas stations and other retail chains they sell this.. (hey is is supposed to imitate Chewing Tobacco )

This is also due to the fact that most Candy Smokes the package does not look like the real thing anymore.

The packages are smaller and they no longer color the tip brown as well as make them thin...

I can see them stopping the ones of yesterday, but the ones of today even the Gum Cigars.

Okay-- Next let us cease Pixie Sticks because they look like a straw that someone would inhale cocaine through.

[Hum]

I enjoyed candy ciggys as a kid -- and I did not take up a smoking habit. :happy:

[Growled Member]

I enjoyed candy ciggys as a kid -- and I did not take up a smoking habit. :happy:

Same here. Hard to believe, huh?

[Sandor]

The fact the product exists is sad.

Seems like a good idea to ban it.

[The Rev]

I remember having candy cigarettes when I was a kid... Good times... :-p

[Guest xiphi]

I also used to have candy cigs as a kid and I've not picked up smoking. Cigarettes have an awful smell, too. I swear every time someone lights one up in a building it smells like the whole place is on fire.

[xendrome]

I also used to have candy cigs as a kid and I've not picked up smoking. Cigarettes have an awful smell, too. I swear every time someone lights one up in a building it smells like the whole place is on fire.

Where exactly are you that they allow smoking inside of a building besides a bar?

[Arachno 1D]

If you remove all reference material to a product the product then dies a natural death but if you still allow advertising in the way of candy,sponsorship and such then the brand still has a foothold.

[+SOOPRcow MVC]

Where exactly are you that they allow smoking inside of a building besides a bar?

Cant even smoke inside a bar in California. One of the few California laws I love :)

[neufuse Veteran]

they still sell these "candy cigs" here, they just renamed them to "bones"... look exactly the same, just now they claim they are human bones not cig's

[Arachno 1D]

So your into cannibalism now :woot: :laugh:

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

This is why we can't have nice things...

[SupportGeek]

The fact the product exists is sad.

Seems like a good idea to ban it.

Because personal responsibility should be handed off to the government or what?

Banning things is almost never a good idea, sure cases like "this soup has arsenic for flavor" would probably be a good idea, but banning things because you are a nanny state and don't want to make your own decisions and take responsibility is always terrible.

Why stop at candy cigarettes? Why not ban candy period, sugar is known for many reasons to be bad for you, its practically poison, certainly that protects the consumer better than banning something that might lead to someone lighting up a real cig later in life.

If you remove all reference material to a product the product then dies a natural death but if you still allow advertising in the way of candy,sponsorship and such then the brand still has a foothold.

LOL!

How is something dying a "natural" death when you are artificially removing references to it?

If someone takes away all your food and water and you die of starvation, is that natural too? :laugh:

[Arachno 1D]

Its like Paypal removing certain sites from its list of users......ergo their income stream is stiffled

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

The fact the product exists is sad.

Seems like a good idea to ban it.

Wow man, that's extreme.

I hate to break it to you, but this is 2012 not 1512.

One of the many problems with the world today is people like you.

"oh I read this in the news, it doesn't concern me at all, but im horribly offended by it and therefore it should be banned"

If it doesn't concern you, ignore it. Its like all these morons who ring up and complain about seeing nudity or hearing the F word on tv. - If you dont like it, change the freakin channel.

Let kids be kids, it doesn't harm anyone. Stop being a bloody Candy Nazi.

[theyarecomingforyou]

I think it's perfectly reasonable to ban products targeted at children that glorify / promote smoking. Don't get me wrong, I had them when I was a kid and never took up smoking but that doesn't mean they didn't influence others. Society should be promoting healthy concepts to children, not incredibly damaging ones.

[Hum]

I wonder if candy that looked like carrots and celery would 'influence' kids ... :laugh:

[neufuse Veteran]

I personally think Sweedish Fish should be banned.... they are offensive to the Sweedish People.... psh.... down with candy! :rofl:

[moloko]

I remember the one with paper around it. you could blow in it to make smoke come out. It was just powder but still. It was cool. I never picked up REAL smoking either.