Dwight R. Lee

In recent years, federal, state, and local governments have attempted to reduce teen smoking with increased regulations of tobacco products. State governments have experimented with hikes in cigarette taxes, while the federal government has instituted regulations that restrict the advertising of tobacco products. Dwight R. Lee contends in the following viewpoint that neither measure will significantly reduce smoking among teenagers. He claims that high taxes on cigarettes only result in rampant cigarette smuggling, whereby minors have more, not less, access to cigarettes. Furthermore, smoking advertisements— both positive and negative—have little impact on whether teens decide to smoke. Lee is Ramsey Professor of Economics at the University of Georgia, Athens, and an adjunct fellow at the Center for the Study of American Business at Washington University in...