Tobacco At the Crossroads: The Past and Future of Smoking Regulation in the United States

The past five years have seen a dramatic turn of events against the tobacco industry, raising the question of the appropriate future path for smoking policy in the U.S. This paper discusses the theory and evidence on regulation of smoking. I begin by reviewing the background on this industry. I then turn to a discussion of the motivations for regulating smoking, both external and internal to the smoker. I review the evidence on the effects of existing regulations. And I conclude with a discussion of future policy directions.