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Smarties 'Smokers' Stressing Schools

Exhaling crushed candies looks like cigarette smoking

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 20, 2009 9:35 AM CDT

(Newser) – Parents and school officials are sweating over a new kids’ craze: “smoking” Smarties candies, the Wall Street Journal reports. Children crush the sugary discs into a powder in their wrapper, dump the powder into their mouths, and, in a move eerily reminiscent of cigarette smokers, exhale a cloud of dust. “To freak your mom out, sit behind a chair and just blow smoke up in the air,” instructs one online commentator.

Like the Mentos-Diet Coke fad before it, this one is becoming a viral phenomenon. “It has come to our attention that some of our students are involved in something that is known as 'smoking Smarties,’” one principal wrote to parents, saying the fad could be “hazardous to your son or daughter's health." A doctor says the practice could lead to sinus infections, and, though it's a long shot, the possibility of maggots feasting on sugary residue inside the nose.

[Images (2)]

[Videos (1)]

In a new fad, kids are "smoking" Smarties. (YouTube)

A girl describes the dangers of fully inhaling Smarties on YouTube. (YouTube)

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"Quit cigs and start the smarts," writes this YouTube user. (YouTube)

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Smarties 'Smokers' Stressing Schools