by David A. Kessler

About the author: David A. Kessler is the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The cigarette industry has attempted to frame the debate on smoking as the right of each American to choose. The question we must ask is whether smokers really have that choice.

Consider these facts:
• Two-thirds of adults who smoke say they wish they could quit.
• Seventeen million try to quit each year, but fewer than one out of ten succeeds. For every smoker who quits, nine try and fail.
• Three out of four adult smokers say that they are addicted. By some estimates, as many as 74 to 90 percent are addicted.
• Eight out of ten smokers say they wish they had never started smoking...