When I was really young ages ago, I remember going to the store and buying candy cigarettes. We thought they were cool and imitated smoking them before finishing them off. I can’t remember what they taste like, but I remember having them and my friends and I pretending like we were smoking and being cool.

Candy cigarettes are hard to find these days and not readily available in stores. It seems like the presence of candy cigarettes influenced children to take up bad habits harmful to their health.

Recently the alcohol industry has dealt with the same concerns of alcohol products marketed to children. I will caveat this by stating that the wholesaler tier has really seemed to find religion on this because Pepsi Co was entering their space, before it was not a major issue for them.

But nevertheless, there are concerns that child favorites such as Eggo waffles and chocolate ice cream contain alcohol. The fear is an unknowing or unscrupulous store owner could put the product in the children’s section, and the alcohol laced products can end up in the wrong hands.

This is a very legitimate concern which has caused states like Illinois to issue regulations to implement safe guards to protect children.

Which leads me to the cannabis field and the impact on children. The fear with state regulators is that minor favorites such as Mountain Dew, Eggo, and Sunny Delight could make alcohol more attractive to minors and lead to consumption, similar to how candy cigarettes could influence a child to smoke.

But with the cannabis, although there has been some pushback, there has not been a market pushback to things that may entice a child to take up a cannabis habit.

As a father of an eight-year-old boy, I know that him and his friends rank gummies as their top candy. From the cool colors to the good taste, a common chocolate bar does not stand a chance.

So shouldn’t we ask the question whether something that is so attractive to children should be produced with a drug harmful to them? Yes, the gummies are sold only in dispensaries and children don’t have access to dispensaries, but that doesn’t mean they will never see them. And the lack of access depends on every citizen partaking to act scrupulous, something that is nearly impossible. Further, unlike a hard mountain dew, gummies are easier to conceal and easier for the minors to take.

Whether gummies should go the way of candy cigarettes is a debate for another day, but it is a debate we should start to have. If the industry is worried about Hard Mountain Dew, then maybe it should also raise its concerns about the impact cannabis gummies could have on minors. Don’t expect the wholesaler tier to lead the charge like they did on hard Mountain Dew, because they are licking their chops and to take over cannabis like the way they hijacked alcohol. It is a dollar and cents issue for them.

But an honest discussion, should be had, refusing to do so is sweeping an issue of major consequences under the rug!