Birmingham, Al.
A trend among some students to crush certain candy and snort or inhale it -- dubbed "Smoking Smarties" -- is causing concern among some drug educators.
"It is not a narcotic of any sort. They are not getting high," said Carol Williams, project coordinator of the Shelby County Drug Free Coalition Project Safe Place Programs of Family Connection, Inc. "They are literally just inhaling sugar into their body."
The students, often middle schoolers, crush candies such as Smarties or use already powdered candies such as Pixy Stix or powder drink packets such as KoolAid and snort them into their noses, Williams said. In some cases the students will crush a pack of candy and put the packet in their mouth and inhale and blow the fine granules out as if they were smoking. she said.
"They think it's funny," Williams said.
But Williams, drug educators, and at least one candy company, aren't laughing.
The students who do it are inhaling sugary powdery dust into the nasal cavities, which can lead to infections in the sinuses or upper respiratory system, Williams said.
The biggest concern among drug educators, however, is what mimicking smoking or snorting drugs could portend for the future, Williams said.
"It shows that willingness to experiment and try different things," she said. "Later it may not be Smarties. It may be alcohol. It may be cigarettes. It may be marijuana."
Three years ago a student at a middle school asked her what smoking Smarties does, Williams said.
"That was the first time I had heard of it," she said.
The questions are now more frequent.
Of the seven middle schools she visited this fall, Williams said students at five of the schools asked her about "Smoking Smarties."
"Either they've done it or they've seen somebody do it," Williams said.
Videos of kids around the country snorting crushed or powdery candy are on YouTube.
The Grand Rapids Press reported at its online site that one Michigan middle school principal in May banned Smarties and Pixy Stix from the school because students were believed to be inhaling them as they pretended to smoke it.
Williams in November sent out notices that went to many parents of Shelby County school students.
The Drug Free Action Alliance in Columbus, Ohio, also had sent out an alert to parents about the trend in November. "It's kind of like the old candy cigarettes. It kind of glamorized it (smoking) for kids," said Tony Coder, communications director for the alliance.
Parents who find out their children have been inhaling the powdery candy should look at it as an opportunity to talk to their kids about drugs and the pressures they may face in high school, Coder said.
Smarties Candy Company began responding to the practice with their candy two years ago.
"It has come to our attention that some misguided teenagers took our product, Smarties, pulverized it, and found a way to simulate a person smoking a cigarette," Eric H. Ostrow, vice president of sales and marketing for the company, stated in a press release issued in April 2009.
Ostrow also stated in the press release that the company, now more than 60 years old, "regrets that a negative message of this type has been sent to young people with the use of our product. We have always been at the forefront of notifying consumers of such things as allergen, nutritional, and ingredient information before they were mandated by law."
"Also, before state and federal laws were in effect, our office became a non-smoking environment and has always taken a position on its negative impact to one's health," Ostrow stated in the press release. "Certainly, the more this incident is publicized, the more attention it brings to this inappropriate practice."
A spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and a spokesperson for Children's of Alabama both said they have not seen evidence of the problem in the Birmingham area.
Dr. Maxcie Sikora, of the Alabama Allergy and Asthma Center, said they haven't seen any cases.
It would be rare, but could occur, that sugar in the airways and in nostrils could promote bacteria and even maggots that thrive off of sugar, Sikora said. "The powder is an irritant to the upper and lower airways. In individuals who already suffer from airway diseases such as asthma or allergic rhinitis, this powder could trigger an asthma flare or nasal symptom flare," she said. The risk, however, of any long-term deposition in the lungs or airways is unlikely due to the fact it is made of sugar and should degrade, Dr. Sikora said.
