Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Tobacco Candy


"A new group of nicotine products is coming under fire for packaging that is similar to candy. Camel Orbs (packaged as Tic Tac look-alikes), Camel Sticks (dissolvable toothpick-sized sticks), and Camel Strips (similar to dissolvable breath-freshening strips), are a few of the smokeless and spitless tobacco items that pose serious health concerns. Research from The Harvard School of Public Health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows 1,768 cases of poisoning in children between 2006 and 2008 involved smokeless tobacco products. It's not just accidental ingestion, but also purposeful ingestion of these products that is a concern. A survey by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth showed that 39% of those under age 18 thought Camel Orbs were candy or gum and 28% of those youths said they would try a smokeless tobacco product based on its packaging." Quote from K Magazine, Nov./Dec., 2010