Give me a Break

[The Straight Story]

Give me a Break

By Annette Meeks

Last update: March 24, 2009 - 4:34 PM

St. Paul, like many Minnesota cities this year, is facing a substantial budget deficit, amongst other problems. In light of these grim economic circumstances, I was surprised to read that the St. Paul City Council has set aside their serious business and established April 1 as the date for a public hearing to discuss a citywide ban on the sale of candy cigarettes. Really.

According to news reports, a group of teenage “lobbyists”, led by the Ramsey County Tobacco Coalition (a community organizing group that, two years ago, brought Minnesota a statewide indoor smoking ban), has proposed this candy-banning ordinance after examining a select number of St. Paul convenience stores where they found the offending candy. Apparently these teens swayed St. Paul’s elected officials to propose this candy ban because of the candy’s alleged similarities to a pack of real cigarettes.

St. Paul has some serious problems but the sale of candy cigarettes, at least as far as I can see, seems to be pretty far down on that list. Furthermore, it appears that as a state, we’ve done a pretty good job of discouraging kids from smoking.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, “the rate of underage tobacco use continues to decline”. In the department’s December report, it showed that in the past three years, there were “12,000 fewer high school and middle school students” using tobacco. (More alarming than the current number of underage smokers, however, was the curious fact that apparently many of the middle and high school smokers must have enjoyed smoking their cigs at public establishments. I say this because the Minnesota Department of Health tobacco use researcher cited both the state’s higher tobacco tax as well as the state’s smoking ban as reasons for the decline in teen smoking rates. Honestly, prior to the smoking ban, I believe I would have noticed a 12-year old bellying up to the bar to enjoy a smoke. But I digress.)

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