P.M. Ling, A. Landman, and S.A. Glantz

About the author: P.M. Ling, A. Landman, and S.A. Glantz are affiliated with the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, the Institute for Health Policy Studies, the Cardiovascular Research Institute, and the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California, San Francisco.

Laws designed to prevent teens from acquiring cigarettes have failed to prevent teen smoking. In addition, focusing on such laws often has the effect of blaming teens, their friends, and their parents for teen smoking and may lead to more laws criminalizing teens for cigarette possession. The tobacco industry benefits from this approach to teen smoking prevention because it diverts attention away from its own marketing practices. Therefore, public health practitioners should abandon these...