Different flavors of cigarettes hitting the shelves have a lot of people talking.

Recently, Michigan Department of Community Health Director Janet Olszewski and Surgeon General Kimberlydawn Wisdom sent a letter to R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. telling it to stop the production of flavored cigarettes.

The officials maintain that the tobacco industry is using exotically flavored cigarettes to attract minors and lure them into the habit.

We believe this is not the case, but that flavored cigarettes merely give smokers more options.

The fact that flavored cigarettes average $2 more per box than regular cigarettes should be enough to deter youngsters. Even with their colorful, ornately decorated boxes and the newly added flavors, kids might think twice about purchasing a pack when they check their wallet.

Additionally, recent statistics have shown that teens are choosing not to smoke cigarettes. In the past 7 years or so, smoking rates among high school students have actually declined from about 36 percent to 21.9 percent.

Maybe those Truth ads are working after all.

If anything is getting teens to smoke, it's peer pressure, not flashy boxes. Perhaps flashy, suave cartoon characters might have an influence on youngsters, but we're hardly talking "Nico the Dancing and Singing Cigarette" here.

Despite the fact that cigarettes kill people, giving smokers more options to satisfy their taste buds is a smart business move by the tobacco companies and is aimed at consenting and free-willed adults.