Store fined $500 for selling candy cigarettes

[willywonka666]

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Owners of an old-school soda shop in St. Paul, Minn., are being warned to kick the habit and stop stocking novelty candy cigarettes.

City inspectors threatened a misdemeanor citation and $500 fine if Lynden’s soda fountain is caught selling the fake smokes again. The Star Tribune reported Wednesday (http://bit.ly/RiCHiP ) that the offering violated an ordinance barring the sale of candy smokes and cartoon character lighters.

A city spokesman says the warning came after inspectors received and looked into a complaint about the presence of the tobacco-themed products. The ordinance was enacted to discourage youngsters from picking up a real smoking habit.

Shop owner Tobi Lynden says the white candy sticks with the red tips were her best-selling candy item but she pulled them to avoid running afoul of the ordinance.

I saw this one coming.

I think one of our biggest problems is this "better safe than sorry" mentality. It's turned us into really big pussies

[CM Parish]

I loved those things when I was a kid, absolutely loved them.

I'm 25 years old and I have never even tried one single cigarette.

[G✇JI☈A]

Well they don't have to be cigarettes. They can repackage them as something else.

Let's see... What else is white and has a red tip?

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

I always thought they tasted horrible but that's no reason to outlaw them!


Oh, that's not why they're being outlawed... well, it's still equally stupid. Another victim of today's society's belief that it's everyone but the parents' role to educate their children.

[willywonka666]

I guess candy cigarettes are considered a gateway candy

[Rumble McSkirmish]

Dec 28, 2012 8:06:29 GMT -5 willywonka666 said:

I guess candy cigarettes are considered a gateway candy

Sure it may seem like a harmless confection but soon you'll be craving the harder stuff like nerds and gobstoppers.

[G✇JI☈A]

True Story; In Australia you can get these candy white sticks called 'Fads'. Once upon a time though they were candy cigarettes. They had the red tips and they were called F.... Well they were not called FADS (replace the D for a G Seriously )

Langauge Warning I guess:
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ln80e7MAFW1qb5lop.jpg

[Deleted]

Used to buy the things all the time, and for that matter the shredded jerky they package like chewing tobacco (still get that occasionally), and I'm basically straight edge in all but the name and the fashion choices.

[willywonka666]

Dec 28, 2012 8:09:09 GMT -5 Rumble McSkirmish said:

Dec 28, 2012 8:06:29 GMT -5 willywonka666 said:

I guess candy cigarettes are considered a gateway candy

Sure it may seem like a harmless confection but soon you'll be craving the harder stuff like nerds and gobstoppers.

I was on the nerds for 6 years. A guy hooked me up on the playground near the monkey bars. I was a junkie

[Piccolo]

Aw man, I loved those things as a kid. They were tasty and it was fun to act like I was in an old-timey detective movie or something. Somehow, recognizing that other people smoked, and sucking on the sugar equivalent, never made me remotely interested in the real thing (any more than those bubble gum cigars they handed out when someone had a baby, or Big League Chew).

[THE Baldy Kendrick]

The thread title is misleading.

"City inspectors threatened[/i] a misdemeanor citation and $500 fine if Lynden’s soda fountain is caught selling the fake smokes again. "

They were told not to sell them, and that they'd be fined if they did it again, but they were not fined yet.

[willywonka666]

Dec 28, 2012 9:13:10 GMT -5 THE Baldy Kendrick said:

The thread title is misleading.

"City inspectors threatened

[/i] a misdemeanor citation and $500 fine if Lynden’s soda fountain is caught selling the fake smokes again. "

They were told not to sell them, and that they'd be fined if they did it again, but they were not fined yet. [/quote]You are right. I should have thrown in the words "could be"

This is just the start though. Sales will go down, the story will catch fire and they will stop making them or at the very least only make them available online

[xCompackx]

Haven't stores always sold things like that though? I remember them when I was a kid so surely this can't be a new thing to people. I don't get the issue.

[Hurbster]

Ahhh, land of the free...

[willywonka666]

Dec 28, 2012 10:00:59 GMT -5 xCompackx said:

Haven't stores always sold things like that though? I remember them when I was a kid so surely this can't be a new thing to people. I don't get the issue.

Yes, but with the crackdown on smoking, only now is this becoming an issue.

I wonder about the individual who went to the trouble of finding an inspector and reporting this.

Maybe I should just start going around looking for investigators complaining I can't get laid and they would help me. that's obviously what they are there for.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

I just bought some candy cigs from a local mom and pop store the other day. Uh oh.

[Push R Truth]

I remember a bet where I snorted a pixie stick for like 1$ in 5th grade.

It burned like fire, but that 1$ was pretty awesome. I think I went and bought a chain of Cherry Warheads.

[Allie Kitsune]

*Shrug*

*Headshake*

I just don't have the words.

[nocomments87]

Dec 28, 2012 7:58:49 GMT -5 CM Parish said:

I loved those things when I was a kid, absolutely loved them.

I'm 25 years old and I have never even tried one single cigarette.

Same here...on both counts!

There's a grocery store across the street from my house that still sells candy cigarettes, and they also carry the not-quite-as-good, not-as-controversial "candy sticks", which are basically candy cigarettes without the red tips, and they taste sweeter (a little too sweet for my liking, though, but still decent enough). Those are usually packaged in cartoon character boxes like Scooby-Doo and Marvel characters.

[Yami Daimao]

I love the fact that someone under the name of "willywonka666" posted this.