Does anyone else find this disturbing - candystore called Happy Pills?

they will become a successful business if enough people feel that way about it...

parents who share this view will not be shopping there with their kids...

The other thing that doesn't sit well - is that Boston as well as other areas has a big drug issue - just drive by the other side of Boston - aka Methadone Mile.

The timing honestly is not the best. Not sure how much of an issue drugs are in the North End so maybe it will work.

Unfortunately the children might still be inclined to go there on there own. If things are the same as years back, children often enjoy over indulging in sugary treats.

Personally, I find the entire store theme to be problematic.

I get where you are coming from, but I am fine with this store. I think this is another example of people grossly overreacting. Pills are not synonymous with opioids.

1. Pills are an appropriate, sometimes critically important part, of any normal healthy childhood. Every child over the age of 6 has been given pills to take by medical professionals, their parents and probably by other responsible caregivers.

Think about how many pills you give your kids a year without thinking about it. Pills are a normal part of their daily lives that makes their lives better.

2. It is natural and appropriate for kids to give out pills when they are pretending to go to the doctors. I am sure that your kids have used jelly beans in exactly that way. This is a natural healthy way for kids to explore their world.

3. Of course, smart parents will use these fake pills as an opportunity to talk about the dangers of real pills. I think most parents are afraid of their young kids experimenting with what they find in the medicine cabinet. While playing with fake medicines, I could talk to my daughter about how "medicine is good and often important, but that real medicine can be dangerous for people who don't need it and is not a toy".

4. Giving out jelly beans as gag gift pills for fake ailments like "baldness" or "aging cure" has a long history. I see no harm in these stupid jokes.

I find candy cigarettes to be disturbing, because cigarettes are bad for you. We give pills to our own children, because pills are good for you. There is a big difference. I don't find this store to be "disturbing". I don't think it is even sinister or edgy.

If someone gave my daughter a bottle of happy pills, I would think that it is cute. That is all it is.

I see what you are saying but for some reason and I can’t quite put my finger on it why... it just doesn’t sit well with me.

Is it wanting to teach kids that "pills are not candy"? I think that is important. With the number of pills in an average kid's life, this is sometimes tricky. I remember having these conversations with an overly curious five year old living with me.

Darn it all! My daughter agrees with you (thinking this store is inappropriate for kids). I mentioned the store to her and she said "that's troubling...". I don't know what the heck that means for my point of view on the topic.

Hopefully you find that funny. It made me chuckle.

Yeah it did make me laugh. Is your daughter a mom? I wonder if it is a mom feeling because I can tell you when I didn’t have kids I’d probably think it funny.

No, my daughter is 15. I thought she should be on my side on this one .

Candy cigarette

Not to be confused with candy-flavored cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Candy cigarettes are a candy introduced in the late 19th century made out of chalky sugar, bubblegum or chocolate, wrapped in paper and packaged and branded so as to resemble cigarettes. Some products contain powdered sugar hidden in the wrapper, allowing the user to blow into the cigarette and produce a cloud of sugar that imitates smoke, which comes out of the other end.

Candy cigarettes' place on the market has long been controversial because many critics believe the candy desensitizes children, leading them to become smokers later in life. Candy cigarettes can also serve as a way to market cigarettes to children, as many candy cigarettes have branding nearly identical to cigarette brands. Because of this, the selling of candy cigarettes has been banned in several countries even though they continue to be manufactured and consumed in many parts of the world. However, many manufacturers now describe their products as candy sticks, bubble gum, or simply candy.

Tobacco companies and candy cigarette manufacturers have cooperated to make candy cigarettes. Tobacco companies have allowed candy cigarette companies to use their branding; Brown and Williamson has gone as far as to send copies of its labels to candy cigarette companies. After the 1964 Surgeon General's report on smoking and health criticized candy cigarettes for "trying to lure youngsters into the smoking habit", tobacco companies began to distance themselves from candy cigarettes, although trademark infringement lawsuits against candy cigarette manufacturers have been rare.

A 1990 study found that sixth graders who used candy cigarettes were twice as likely to smoke cigarettes than those who did not use candy cigarettes. A 2007 study surveyed 25,887 adults and found that "[c]andy cigarette use was reported by 88% of both current and former smokers and 78% of never smokers", a statistically significant difference that the authors suggested indicates a connection between candy cigarette use as a child and smoking as an adult.

In America it was reported erroneously in 2010 that the Family Smoking and Prevention Control Act bans candy cigarettes. However, the rule bans any form of added flavoring in tobacco cigarettes other than menthol. It does not regulate the candy industry. Popeye Cigarettes marketed using the Popeye character were sold for a while and had red tips (to look like a lit cigarette) before being renamed candy sticks and being manufactured without the red tip. Most candy cigarettes continue to be manufactured in the United States, with the largest maker of candy cigarettes, World Confections Inc, being based in New Jersey.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_cigarette

Ha I am going to ask my 17 year old never thought to mention it to her

Hippy Sippy candy

Hippy Sippy was a candy introduced in the late 1960s. It derived its name from its packaging: small, multi-colored pellets contained in a toy package ampoule (sometimes incorrectly identified as a syringe). The intent was to mimick drug usage in the hippie culture, primarily through the toy ampoule being a reminder of heroin and secondarily through the multi-colored candy being a reminder of uppers and downers. Included was a button with the phrase "Hippy Sippy says I'll try anything" and "please feed me" printed on it.

Hippy Sippy was immediately controversial and outraged many people. It was promptly removed from the market but is still remembered due to its cultural shock value.[citation needed]

More recently, the name was adopted by saxophonist Hank Mobley for his song "Hippy Sippy Blues."



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippy_Sippy

1. When you put the word "Happy" in front of the word "Pills", that has a connotation of a pill that gets you high.

2. The question is should a candy with that connotation be advertised as such and sold to children?

Kids these days get exposed to more inappropriate information in a week's time than I did the whole of my growing up, it often seems. You can't stem the tide, just try to get them to understand what's reasonable.

I suppose that is the problem. I don't accept point #1. "Happy Pill" has never had that connotation for me.

Is this OK?

Strange. Strange when you consider that many pill-heads (drug addicts), take pills to feel happy.

No. That is not okay.

Given the problem with suicide among preteens and teens... Should we ban candy rope?