Anti-smokers have trouble understanding why there is even a debate. Smokers feel besieged and defensive. This is why I emphasize that the present essay is not about whether, in principle, government should regulate tobacco. My theme has been that, in practice, tobacco regulation may miss its objective of decreasing smoking. Regulation seems to gather steam only after smoking starts its decline in the population.
Regulation seems well-coordinated with tax increases on smokers.
The message of this paper is that before asking government to regulate tobacco we must ask whether friends, family, and colleagues are not already imposing their own informal restrictions on smokers. We must also consider whether, if we grant government the power to regulate tobacco, we will not also write our leaders a carte blanche to tax. The best regulation becomes bad when used for ends it was not intended and when taken too far. Please report any dead links or technical problems. Thursday, August 5, 1999.