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HEALTH

EXPLAINED: Why is there pressure on Denmark to ban cigarette candy

The World Health organisation has called upon the Danish government to ban the sale of cigarette candy after being "alarmed" at how many packets are sold each year.

EXPLAINED: Why is there pressure on Denmark to ban cigarette candy
12 different types of candy cigarettes including chocolate and chewing gum. Photo: Bjørn Kähler/Nf-Nf/Ritzau Scanpix

Dr. Kremlin Wickramasinghe, head of the WHO’s European Office for the Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, told DR that he is “alarmed” that cigarette candy is sold on such a large scale in Denmark.

“Research shows that a product like candy cigarettes can help children develop a positive attitude towards smoking. It can help make smoking more socially acceptable and like normal behaviour,” he said.

Denmark’s tobacco-free generation plan

One of Wickramasinghe’s reasons for Denmark banning the cigarette candy was that it would help the country achieve its plan for a tobacco-free generation.

In March, the Danish government unveiled its idea to ban the sale of cigarettes and other nicotine products to anyone born after 2010.

People under 18 are not legally allowed to purchase cigarettes under current Danish laws, so although the ban would not have an effect for six years, it would prevent people born after 2010 from ever buying cigarettes.

There may be EU legal obstacles preventing the plan in its current form as it would require a change to the EU tobacco directive but the government has not  given up hope of implementing the rule in future.

How popular is cigarette candy in Denmark?

Candy cigarettes (slikcigaretter) are sweets that include chewing gum and chocolate, made to look like cigarettes, sold in colourful packages that look like real cigarette boxes. They are not sold in Danish supermarket chains such as Coop Netto, Føtex, Bilka and Kvickly, but they can still be bought at many kiosks and campsites. 

“There are 13 cigarettes in one pack, 32 packs in one box, and I sell at least six boxes in one season,” Per Nielsen, owner of Krakær Camping in Djursland, told national broadcaster DR News.

“They are, of course, made exactly like a cigarette. The children really go for them,” he said.

According to DR, the company Candinavia A / S, which supplies candy cigarettes, it sold 71,500 packages to Denmark between May 2021 and May 2022. This is an increase of three percent compared to the previous year.

“Although there is a lot of focus on how unhealthy smoking is these days, sales of this product continue at an unchanged pace. This is because children think it’s fun”, director of Candinavia A / S, Benny Ebsen told DR News.

Concerns over Denmark sales

The Danish Cancer Society believes it is a bad idea that candy cigarettes are being sold across Denmark this summer and have received some complaints from the public about why the product is sold. Rather than a specific ban of sales, the cancer society would rather individual shop sellers decide to remove the candy cigarettes from their shelves.

“We do not want Danish children and young people to become familiar with smoking….it is a form of marketing of cigarettes, and we are of course against that”, Niels Them Kjær, project manager for tobacco prevention told DR News.

“Some may think that it is nonsense to attack candy cigarettes, but it helps to normalise dealing with cigarettes and tobacco. If it’s fun with toy cigarettes, it’s at least as fun – maybe even more fun – with real cigarettes,”Jørgen Vestbo, professor of respiratory medicine at The University of Manchester said.

Candynavia director Benny Ebsen said he doesn’t believe that the product itself causes children and young people to start smoking and pointed out that it is not a new product.

Per Nielsen from Krakær Camping said that children aged as young as five buy the candy cigarettes but he was not concerned.

“I do not see any difference between candy cigarettes and a pack of chewing gum from Stimorol. It may well be that it looks like a cigarette, but if that is what sells, then it’s fine with me”,  Nielsen said.

DR News were unable to get a comment about the proposed ban from Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke.

Are candy cigarettes banned in other countries?

DR News says 87 countries have banned candy that look like tobacco products, according to WHO and partner organisation Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

In Europe, this includes Armenia, Finland, Georgia, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.

READ MORE: Denmark presents plan to ban cigarette sales for next generations

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HEALTH

Denmark to spend 334 million kroner on paths to boost ‘declining’ cycling

A total of 69 local and national bicycle lane projects are to receive 334 million kroner in funding in 2024.

Denmark to spend 334 million kroner on paths to boost ‘declining’ cycling

The money, which will see Denmark’s already extensive network of bike lanes continue to grow, comes from a 2021 transport agreement setting aside money for bicycle infrastructure, the Ministry of Transport said in a statement.

Some 64 different municipalities are receiving funding including 28 projects for school bike access.

Under the terms of the agreement, local authorities can get 40 percent of the cost of new bicycle lanes covered by the state fund.

The five new national bicycle lanes – which are fully state-funded – will be built in locations including the Hedensted, Næstved, Norddjurs and Kalundborg municipalities, which are split between Zealand and Jutland.

Distribution of the funding must be rubber-stamped by parliament’s Transport Committee, a process which will be scheduled for after parliament’s summer holiday, the ministry noted in the statement.

“It’s great that we are now expanding the bicycle lane network but cycling is unfortunately declining despite a political desire for the opposite,” the director of the Transport section with the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI), Karsten Lauritzen, said in a statement.

“The forthcoming investments in bicycle lanes which are part of the 2035 infrastructure plan should therefore be brought forward,” he said.

The Transport Minister, Thomas Danielsen said he agreed with the assessment that fewer people are using their bicycles and said a national strategy was on the way to tackle the issue.

“When I became transport minister I was gladly given responsibility for a three-billion-krone spending plan for cycling. I did that but at the same time, we don’t have a clear idea of how to get the most cycling and therefore most for this money,” Danielsen said.

“So this cycling strategy should take the form of a resource to help us decision-makers spend the money as wisely as possible,” he added.

The strategy should be prepared by late 2025, he added.

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