Controversy Surrounds New Tobacco Candy January 3, 2002
News Summary
Anti-smoking activists are concerned that a new tobacco/nicotine candy product will appeal to kids and weaken the incentives for people to quit smoking, the Dallas Morning News reported Dec. 31.Called Ariva, the tobacco candy is currently being test marketed in the Dallas area. Advertised as a way to help get smokers through nonsmoking situations, Ariva is about the size of a Tic Tac, has a mint flavor, and contains powdered tobacco and nicotine.
The tobacco mint was developed by Star Scientific, which described its invention as a "cigalett."
"Cessation is always the best option," said Paul Perito, chairman and president of Star Scientific. But he added: "There are people who believe that, notwithstanding the risks, they want to continue to use the product. One of the things we think is exciting about Ariva is that no one around that person is adversely affected by smoke. Users don't have to leave their jobs and go downstairs in the cold; they don't have to be a bad role model for their kids. If they take a 13-hour plane trip, they don't have to suffer nicotine withdrawal."
But the product benefits, said Ann Harding, director of government relations for the American Cancer Society in the Dallas area, mean that smokers have no incentive to quit.
"This has the same harm as any other tobacco product, but it has the added detriment of being an enabler," said Harding. "At a time when so many adults realize the health risk and are trying to quit, this is something that really encourages their habit. There's an increasing number of social barriers to smoking -- at work, on airplanes, in restaurants -- that really do help adults curb their smoking habit. This will just help them keep up their addiction."
Harding also voiced concern about Ariva's appeal to children. "It's very discreet," she noted. "Kids could pop it in school without getting caught smoking. It produces a nicotine fix that makes it easy for kids to become addicted. And if they're already trying smoking, this will be an enabler to let kids keep up their nicotine habits."
Perito expressed doubts that young people would be attracted to the harsh-tasting lozenges just to get a nicotine rush. He pointed out that teenagers who smoke "want to be cool and want to be noticed."
Perito added, "Young people who use tobacco use fashionable brands. There's nothing cool about Ariva."
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