Smoking Smarties and Sniffing Kool Aid: Gateway Drug or Fad that Teenagers Do?

Teens Smoking and Snorting Smarties
But this was not my only enlightening experience. Opening Easter Eggs from a community Easter Egg Hunt my 14 year old daughter and her best friend explode into laughter. What brought on these peal of laughter and giggles? Smarties. Yes, Smarties, those little round sweet and sour candies in plastic wrapper that I remember eating as child. Apparently there is a new use for this candy – “smoking smarties,” as well as snorting them like the Kool Aid dust. Of course the girls claim they don’t quite know how it works but there are some kids at school who do it. My daughter and her friend claim it is “stupid” and looks “silly” for which I am thankful, but what is smoking smarties?

What is smoking Smarties?

It is amazing what you can find on the internet. Thanks to You Tube I found out how and why you could smoke smarties. First you crush up the Smarties then inhale. Blow out then there is smoke, through either mouth or nose. Why would kids do this? Because it’s fun? Yes, that’s what they say. It is like smoking for real, teens see this as a cute, funny imitation of smoking.

What are the dangers of Smoking Smarties and Snorting Candy?

Quite possibly the most talked about danger of this type of imitative behavior in teens and children is that it could be a “gateway” to other riskier behavior such as smoking cigarettes or marijuana or snorting drugs like cocaine.

According to Mark Shikowitz, an ear, nose and throat doctor at Schneider Children’s Hospital a nine year old attempting to snort Smarties didn’t get the powder fine enough and ended up with the candy lodged in his nose causing pain and discomfort until it dissolved. Other dangers with this behavior are that it could damage irritation to the throat, nose and even lungs. These are not life threatening injuries; however continued use could cause long term damage. Other dangers include chronic coughing and a version of smoker’s cough.

Oren Friedman, a Mayo Clinic nose specialist cautions, “Frequent use could lead to infections or even worse, albeit rare, conditions, such as maggots that feed on sugary dust wedged inside the nose.”

Read the whole story here.

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