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James Debono
Real cigarettes, which kill thousands of people, are legal – but sweet cigarettes, which might cause tooth decay, are not.
The question facing the health authorities right was whether all white candy sticks are pseudo-cigarettes or not, as the sweet sticks without coloured tips were in a legal limbo.
Before this issue was notified to the Health Division these particular candy sticks were perfectly legal.
But a Ministry’s spokesperson has informed MaltaToday that once the Division's
attention was drawn to these candy sticks, a decision was taken to ban to ban the Tom and Jerry candy sticks.
Health crusader Mario Spiteri, the director of the health promotion department, had led the campaign the ban the candy sticking after receiving complaint from several parents that children were mimicking smoking when consuming this sweet.
The Smoking Control Act prohibits the importation, manufacture, sale, supply or distribution “by way of compensation or otherwise” any sweets, confectionery or toys in the form of cigarettes, cigars or a smoker’s pipe.
But the problem with the ‘Tom and Jerry candy sticks’ is that white candy ciggies are not coloured red at the tips, and so are not mimicking normal cigarettes.
This could be why the port health authorities had allowed candy sticks in the Maltese market.
Just a few days before the Health Division decided to ban the candy sticks, Saviour Farrugia, director for trade services, told MaltaToday no import licences are required for the importation of candy sticks. But Mario Spiteri insists the sweet cigarettes should be banned outright.
Even Child Commissioner Sonya Camilleri has joined the call to ban the candy stick, according to Spiteri: “we are strongly supported on this issue by the Commissioner for Children Sonia Camilleri. If we give the wrong messages to our kids we can’t complain then when they ignore us,” says Spiteri.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
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