Schools Fuming over "Smoking Smarties"

Apparently unaware of the existence of mass media, school officials are up in arms over the resurgent microtrend of "smoking smarties", in which schoolchildren forcibly exhale powdered candy. The idea here is that it glorifies smoking beyond what kids see on the street, TV or in the movies.

Personally, aside from choking on crappy powdered candy, I don't see this as a major issue facing today's youth.

The coughing fit that this would induce should serve as deterrent enough. The article below also discusses snorting Smarties, which I would imagine to be somewhat painful.

The most interesting aspect to this story, for me, is the rash of HOWTO videos that these kids are making.

There's a common-sense issue here, but there isn't much that a school can do about that. If you're determined to be an idiot, the rest of the world is powerless to stop you.

The doctor above mentioned the slight risk of a nasal maggot infestation; not sure how realistic such a risk is, but it's a brilliant deterrent, urban myth or no.

I have vague memories of kids doing this during the post-Halloween recesses when I was in (early) grade-school. That's the only time Smarties would be in the school-lunch food chain, as they were considered a Lesser Candy, not nearly as desireable as their less-chalky (and more-chocolaty) cousins.

Note: this article refers to Smarties, and not Smarties.