Tobacco Documents Online

~,Is it `Game Over' ' for Pog Players? ' ~ Trends: Some schools ,a <s ban kids' favorite lids ; P OCS CERTAINLYSEE\IED LIKE WHOLE- some entertainment: kids have been , enthusiasucally collecting and trading the colorful cardboard discs for a couple of 1 years now, playing a simple game of stack- ing ing them up and knocldng them over. Man- d ufactured by dozens of companies. the Pogs . are decorated .vith dinosaurs, Barbie. car- toon toon characters, sports heroes and even math puzzles and anti-smoking messages. ~ But there's a darker wind blowing in Pog- land too: discs have popped up with images ~ of drugs and pornography-and some ~ youngsters wager money on games. One topical Pog shows O. J. Simpson behind bars. School officials have responded by I banning the caps-which, of course, makes kids want them even more. "People at school like to play with them, but we're not allowed to." says Julie Zehnan,11, of Thou- sand Oaks, Calif. "One kid got suspended." ~J ZcUl Urcc~ ll3of95 L\L'FEN CREENFIF,Ln-SYGMA Going Pog witd: Discs and tournament at Knott's Berry Farm in Los Angeles At University Park Elemen- tary School in Dallas, principal Ga[I Hartin heard rtuaors of oc- cult and druggy Pogs-but banned them without even see- ing any. The games disrupted the lunchroom, Hartin says, and she told students to play them CHENBr-NEWAYF2lI~]) onlv after school or at home. The Nitnitz Middle School in Huntington Park. Calif.. prohibits even possession of Pogs, because some turned up with images of female pri- vate parts -and also because of gambling concerns. "Even if there isn't any money involved,studentsgotupsetiftheylosttheir Pogs," says assistant principal Alvin Glass. It's called NIC0RET1'E' Inicotine polacrilexi. And it's ~~ PIKZRrsTT6 a setious medicine that's only ~u~t~rsf 1S.zsed on a traditionai Ha- i s•°uian game played with the ! cardboard caps ot milk bottles. i the current version surtaced . diere in 1991. It featured deco- i rattve discs from a bottled drink ~ containing passtonlrnit. orange f and gmpefntit juice: hence the t name Poq(nowtrademazked by ~I the World Pog Federattom. ~ Pogs then hit California where I :m estimated 350 million w-ere 1 sold last vear, and Universal I Studios added a POG'World i section to its theme park in Oc- tober. The craze is spreading: around the country, discs now sell for 10 cents to S1, and the larger metal or plastic "slam- mets" cost up to S10. There may be a fogover Pogs, but the craze hasn't even crest- ed. More than 3,000 customers and 90 dealers showed up in Walnut. Calif.. last Wednesday night for a~ "Pog show" Sales are brisk at FA.O. Schwatz. New York City's deluxe toy store. which plans an All-Pog Shop that wtll in- i clude a h40 version of the game. Guess those tough New York kids can handle a few Pogs. lewH SeLteetANN wuh)e<NNr. Gonoor. i n Lur Ange4s a nd 6u rrau reports available through your doctor. ~~ My doctor and I discussed hether NICORETTE was right for me. Shouldn't you find out whether it's right for you? NICl7RETTE' (nicotine polacrilex) AskYour Healthcare Professional About It Today SB SnnthNLn.4.eA.m 01994, Smnhl(line Deah.vn ~mmcHdPowe