Republicans say Tabacco Lollipops Not Marketed To Kids [vid]

[Dominus Atheos]

And here's Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) defending them:



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[Superboy]

I'm not sure I see the problem here. I'm glad tabacco companies are developing a product that smokers can use without making me inhale their secondhand smoke or deal with their butts littered everywhere. Maybe I'm missing something, but they don't seem to be advertising these products to kids. Is it just because they're small and minty and therefor must be candy for kids? Calling them lollipops is just dishonest.

As much as I hate to agree with a republican, that senator was right. The CNN piece was a terrible bit of journalism.

[jcow79]

I'm not sure I see the problem here. I'm glad tabacco companies are developing a product that smokers can use without making me inhale their secondhand smoke or deal with their butts littered everywhere. Maybe I'm missing something, but they don't seem to be advertising these products to kids. Is it just because they're small and minty and therefor must be candy for kids? Calling them lollipops is just dishonest.

As much as I hate to agree with a republican, that senator was right. The CNN piece was a terrible bit of journalism.

I've got to agree with Superboy here. Unless there's evidence that the tobacco industry is actually trying to get product placement IN the candy section or near other kid products I can't honestly say they're "marketing to kids". Mints and breathstrips are hardly kid candy products to begin with and candy in general is not exclusive to children. Now I DO think these should be locked up or sold behind the counter as cigarettes and chewing tobacco typically are.

[CaptainChewbacca]

As long as they require ID for purchase, I don't see how they can be marketed to kids any more than chocolate laxatives are marketed to kids.

[Stark]

I'm not sure I see the problem here. I'm glad tabacco companies are developing a product that smokers can use without making me inhale their secondhand smoke or deal with their butts littered everywhere. Maybe I'm missing something, but they don't seem to be advertising these products to kids. Is it just because they're small and minty and therefor must be candy for kids? Calling them lollipops is just dishonest.

As much as I hate to agree with a republican, that senator was right. The CNN piece was a terrible bit of journalism.

Nicotine inhalers have been around since the 90s, but I imagine they've been largely superseded by other systems (like patches etc).

[Oskuro]

What I don't see a problem with either is a regulation on how those are marketed, it's an addictive substance after all.

[phred]

they are tobacco products,which means they should fall under the same restrictions as other tobacco products. So Im not seeing the problem here. In fact I'm all for them simply because it means that fewer nicotine addicts will be smoking in the future.

[Memnon]

Now, I'm no expert on the respiratory system, but isn't this just another way of not utterly wrecking one's lungs/nasal cavity?
Sure, people who eat a lot of these are probably likely to get mouth/esophageal/stomach cancer just like tobacco chewers, but at least there's oral hygiene for the mouth. There's not much you can do to clean your throat/lungs.

[Dooey Jo]

I'm glad tabacco companies are developing a product that smokers can use without making me inhale their secondhand smoke or deal with their butts littered everywhere.

You should also be glad you don't have to deal with the stuff snusers leave behind, especially the old kind which didn't come in bags. They kneed a ball of snus, put it under their lip and then spit it out when they're done with it. If they happen to be at school, they'll take it out and put it on the ceiling, for some goddamn reason. Or under a table, or chair, like a gum, and that shit is a bit more gross to touch than gum, especially when fresh

They won't give you cancer, like smokers, but they might cause aneurysms.

[Oni Koneko Damien]

They won't give you cancer, like smokers, but they might cause aneurysms.

Actually I think it can give you cancer in your mouth. Take with a grain of salt, but I recall seeing, long ago, pictures of people with lips half rotted off from years of chewing tobacco.

Also seconded on snus chewing being one of the most disgusting habits ever. I work with several people who chew. Smoking is bad, sure, but it doesn't make me outright nausious the way snus does. Watching people spit up yellowish crap with black chunks into garbage cans, or saving it like trophies in bottles... I get dry heaves if I think too much about it.

[Dooey Jo]

They won't give you cancer, like smokers, but they might cause aneurysms.

Actually I think it can give you cancer in your mouth. Take with a grain of salt, but I recall seeing, long ago, pictures of people with lips half rotted off from years of chewing tobacco.

Snus is known to cause pancreatic and possibly oral cancer, but thankfully not in us bystanders

Also seconded on snus chewing being one of the most disgusting habits ever. I work with several people who chew. Smoking is bad, sure, but it doesn't make me outright nausious the way snus does. Watching people spit up yellowish crap with black chunks into garbage cans, or saving it like trophies in bottles... I get dry heaves if I think too much about it.

It's actually not supposed to be chewed, but just sit there under the lip, slowly corroding things. But the yellow spittle with black chunks in it... urgh.

[TheLostVikings]

They won't give you cancer, like smokers, but they might cause aneurysms.

Actually I think it can give you cancer in your mouth. Take with a grain of salt, but I recall seeing, long ago, pictures of people with lips half rotted off from years of chewing tobacco.

Well i know anecdotes doesn't count for much, but basically it went like this: My friend had been doing snus for about two years, but was trying to quit, and had not taken any snus for a little over two months.

This guy has pretty good oral hygiene, never had a single hole in his life. So when he went to routine checkup at his dentist (like most people do once in a while, just to be safe). His dentist had been looking in his mouth for all of thirty seconds before he looked up and said: so, you started doing snus. My friend was like: WTF, and wondered how he knew. At which point the dentist simply replied: Well, let's just say you might want to stop... (ominous silence)

Did you guys know that until a few years ago all snuff sold commercially had small pieces of glass in it? I think that fact pretty much speak for itself...

[Eleas]

Did you guys know that until a few years ago all snuff sold commercially had small pieces of glass in it? I think that fact pretty much speak for itself...

I think I actually heard about that. Supposed to quicken the nicotine absorption rate, or something.

[The Spartan]

I seem to recall that some time ago the tobacco companies insisted that cigarettes were not marketed to children. Then, maybe 10 or 15 years ago we come across memos saying that they were, in fact, trying to market to kids on the idea that it was easier to hook a kid and get a life long customer rather than hook an adult, who would be more likely to pass if they actually tried smoking.

[Gil Hamilton]

I don't think this should be labelled "Republicans say Tobacco Lollipops Not Marketed To Kids", but rather "North Carolina Senator says Tobacco Candy Not Marketed to Kids". North Carolina quite possibly produces the most tobacco of any state. The fact that that senator in the video is singing these products praises is par for the course. I'm surprised he's not claiming medicinal properties and possibly that Orbs can bring your dead puppy back to life.

[Sea Skimmer]

Did you guys know that until a few years ago all snuff sold commercially had small pieces of glass in it? I think that fact pretty much speak for itself...

I think I actually heard about that. Supposed to quicken the nicotine absorption rate, or something.

Yeah, it used to have little bits of broken glass specifically to cut up your lip and let the nicotine soak in quicker. But they stopped doing that more then a few years ago, back in the 1970s I believe.