Have you ever felt like eating something spicy and sweet? Have you ever felt like eating it, choking, then posting a video online because you and your friends think it's funny? This is known as the famous cinnamon challenge. But, this game that might seem innocent and funny to some, could lead to health problems or even hospitalization.

The cinnamon challenge is a popular dare game where a person attempts to swallow a tablespoon of cinnamon without puking, inhaling it, or using water to wash it down. The earliest known cinnamon challenge video was posted onto a blog back in 2001, and it was performed by two men. The earliest YouTube version came in 2006 by a man and his friends. Since then, local students have decided to accept the dare.

 "I saw a bunch of people doing it, so I told my brother about it and he said that he would video tape it if I did it," said freshman Ashley Strickholm.

The challenge can be funny, but it can also be risky.

 "I felt I had cinnamon coming out of every cavity of my body for the whole next day and  I was blowing cinnamon out of my nose," said junior Logan Radtke.

Some of the dangers of this challenge include choking, vomiting, coughing, and hypoxia; symptoms that have been experienced locally.

 " I went over to the sink and starting vomiting" [upon trying to swallow the cinnamon], said Radtke.

 According to experts, the cinnamon can be aspirated into the lungs and cause pneumonia.

 " [The cinnamon challenge] is literally impossible; it gets so dry that you're at the point where you can't breathe and it gets stuck in your teeth," said Strickholm. 

This challenge is spreading.  Recently a Huron High School student was hospitalized due to performing the cinnamon challenge.  Another school had such an outbreak of videos  students were uploading, that one even tried to smuggle cinnamon in a vial inside his boots. As a result, the school banned "open-top boots".

According to research, "cinnamon challenge" had been  mentioned on Twitter about 20 times per day, but by December, was getting mentioned around 1,000 times a day. Then towards the end of January, there was about 70,000 mentions on a daily basis.

In my opinion this "game" needs to be put to a halt. It is  hazardous to all human beings of all ages and needs to be stopped. Whether a dare or just for fun, it's just one more step to having an unwanted stay in a hospital for a few days or even six feet under.