Oddly Enough - UK Reuters
Two scoops and a pack of smokes?
Fri Sep 27, 7:53 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The heady days when a kid could score a pack of smokes along with his Pink Panther bar are gone -- thanks to a police crackdown in Los Angeles on ice cream truck drivers.
Police swept down on the musical vendors after parents in a south Los Angeles neighbourhood complained that their grade-school children were coming home with cigarettes, city officials said.
The sweep netted 31 packs of contraband cigarettes and five ice cream truck drivers whose "Pop Goes the Weasel" music signalled more than a sugar rush, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said on Friday.
The piles of contraband cigarettes displayed at Delgadillo's news conference on Friday included flavours especially tempting to young palates -- chocolate and cherry-flavoured smokes.
"The joy of an ice cream cone and the innocence of childhood should not go up in smoke because of those who prey on our children for profit," Delgadillo told reporters. "The music signalling the arrival of the ice cream truck should make children think of ice cream, not cigarettes."
Noting that illegal cigarette sales deprive the state of $400 million (256 million pounds) each year in tax revenues earmarked for health and children's programs, Delgadillo said the ice cream vendors were ordered to pay their fines to tobacco prevention programs.
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