Give David Adams credit for writing a gripping lede for his op-ed in today's Times:
Young smokers who begin their habit with nicotine-laden cigarettes need a cigarette that will not leave them to later fight the ravages of addiction.
So rather than try to get kids not to smoke in the first place, the companies will just encourage them to smoke cigarettes that aren't physically addictive. Never mind the fact that it's the psychological addiction of the habit, oral fixation, and social component that are actually harder to break. At least that was my experience. Besides, teenagers who want to get the "real" thing will find ways to get the "real" cigarettes.
Isn't this just another version of the candy cigarettes that were sold to us as children? These same candy cigarettes had labels that were close enough to the real thing that kids could develop brand identification through design and color, and we could act like adults.
[image pulled from Candy.org.]
