Remember the days when candy was actually used for eating?

According to the New York Daily News, snorting smarties candy has become the latest and strangest craze for students at a Rhode Island middle school. Health officials are now warning parents of the possible side effects, including nasal maggots,

Nasal maggots originates from a condition called nasal myiasis, which occurs when flies lay larvae eggs inside the nose. The insects are attracted to the rotting candy inside the lining of a nose.

YouTube videos show students putting themselves at risk for side-effects like nasal infestation, nasal scarring, allergic reactions, lung irritation or infection.

"If the Smarties do end up getting into the lung, then that can also cause infection," Dr. Gail Burstein, health commissioner in Erie County, N.Y., told The Sun News. "It is an irritant; it can cause wheezing and maybe chronic cough and asthma and sinus complications. And, ultimately, if someone is allergic to sugar or the contents of Smarties, then they could end up having an anaphylactic reaction and dying."

The videos show show students smashing the chalky round candies and turning them into a powder substance. Students later exhal it through the mouth or nose like cigarette smoke or use a straw or rolled up paper to snort the powder as if it were cocaine.

Videos of the extracurricular activity date back to 2007. One video showed radio DJs from Z-104 in Madison, Wisc., snorting the powder live on air.

Administrators at Portsmouth Middle School sent an email to parents last week detailing the new trend, calling it a "widespread phenomenon" among kids in the fourth- through eighth grade and are asking parents to become more aware for their children's activities.

"We have recently become aware of an unsafe, new trend among some of our middle school students -- smoking or snorting the candy, Smarties,"the email addressed from Portsmouth Middle School read. "Our research has taught us this is a widespread phenomenon and is the subject of many Youtube videos." 

According to CBS News, parents were shocked to hear about the trend, including Bruce Digennaro.

"They laugh about it, they say that they've heard of kids doing it, but they don't imply that it's a big problem or that it's something that a lot of people do," Digennaro said.

Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, noted that children who engage in the snorting activities should have a mental health evaluation from a medical professional.

"While some of this behavior may have its origins in pure experimentation and mimicry, parents need to be aware that this could be part of a larger emotional or psychiatric issue which should be discussed with their pediatrician," Glatter told CBS News in an email.

CBS News compared the trend to dangerous stunts, like the "cinnamon challenge" and "ice and salt challenge." The benefit for snorting Smarties are unknown.

Last year, 15 teens at a middle school in Hamburg, N.Y., were caught snorting Smarties, according to the New York Daily News.