Would banning candy cigarettes reduce smoking prevalence?  And would such a ban ever get past the courts? 

 It seems that people who have a ``lifetime history of candy cigarette use'' may be more likely to have ever smoked ( Klein et al ).  Some countries like Canada, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Finland and Australia  apparently believe that there is a causal link and already ban this type of candy.  I think there are good reasons to believe candy cigarettes may have an influence on children and there are qualitative studies that suggest mechanisms like attitudes towards smoking.  They certainly look like the real deal and might even build brand recognition.  Check out this sample of German candies (DKFZ: 41).  The middle one says "filter tipped", "king size" and features camels.  Makes you wonder how they present sugar content in place of tar. 

     


 Anyway this makes me wonder what standards we must meet to make a plausible case for regulation.  At least in the US there are strong barriers to regulating anything that may be construed as limiting ``commercial speech''.  Sure enough historically institutions like the Federal Trade Commission had a hard time getting such policies past the courts, and providing sufficient evidence on causal links is a critical factor.  For example in the case of regulating TV ads of high-sugar foods to children, establishing causality was one of the main barriers to implementation (the others were political and practical, as  Mello et al  write). 

 What are the hopes (fears) for a ban on candy cigarettes?  To me it seems difficult to credibly argue that candy cigarette use leads to smoking later in life.  If there is a causal link it will be hard to establish empirically (random draw of candy sticks, anyone?) and even harder to meet the high legal standard.  I wonder how courts weigh quantitative versus qualitative arguments on such issues.  Or will we only have regulations for issues where we can identify causal relations? 

  
PS:  Wikipedia  says that North Dakota banned candy cigarettes from 1953-1967.  Maybe we will see an empirical evaluation soon? 

  
Links: 

 Klein et al (2007) " History of childhood candy cigarette use is associated with tobacco smoking by adults " Preventive Medicine 45(1): 26-30 

 Mello, M et al (2006) " Obesity -- The New Frontier of Public Health Law " N Engl J Med 354(24): 2601-2610 

 DKFZ (2008) " Rauchende Kinder und Jugendliche 
in Deutschland - leichter Einstieg, schwerer Ausstieg " [in German only, lists the countries that ban candy cigarettes.  The candy cigarettes picture above appears on page 41.]