Thin Mints- Girl Scout Cookies, E-Cigarettes… or Both?

Ah… there’s nothing like biting into a Girl Scout Cookie!   It fits perfectly into the ‘everything in moderation’ approach and, even better, you’re helping to support an empowering organization, right?

Not so much.

Empowering organization, yes, but I’ve long had a problem with the fact that what they sell each year is something that goes beyond being bad for you… it contains a very addictive substance:  white sugar.  

We’ll save this issue for another blog post, but for the purposes of this one, this is precisely why I found the arguments put forth by the Girl Scouts  regarding their name being shared by an e-cigaratte company almost humorous.

According to an article in the Huffington Post, 

“…the owners of those trademarks are fighting back to make sure their brands aren’t being used to sell an addictive drug or make it appealing to to children”

Wait…. is sugar not an addictive drug and are Girl Scout Cookies not made appealing to children?

Don’t get me wrong- I am not in favor of promoting e-cigarettes to people who do not smoke for purposes of adopting a new habit, however, I must think there is at least some creditability to the idea that, as per the article “E-cigarette users say the devices address both the addictive and behavioral aspects of smoking without the thousands of chemicals found in regular cigarettes.”

So if one uses e-cigarettes in a good faith attempt to wean themselves off the real deal, is that not a good thing?

And are the tables not actually turned a little in terms of who is promoting an addictive substance and who might be offering a way to stop using a different addictive substance?

Of course, using the name of an existing product without permission to do so is another issue in itself, but back to the point, and I repeat the question I asked above:

Is sugar not an addictive drug and are Girl Scout Cookies not made appealing to children?  

Care to comment, General Mills Inc., the Girl Scouts of the USA and Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. (three of the several companies that have sent cease-and-desist letters to makers of the liquid nicotine demanding they stop using the brands and may take further legal action if necessary)?