This article by GVLA member D’Arcy Flannery appeared as a Byline column in the March 13 edition of The Province newspaper.

So you want to tackle the teen smoking issue? Well, I’ve got some bad news; you can’t solve the dilemma by implementing a policy of prohibition.

Let us assume that the government formulated a law that forbade, by threat of death, all vendors from selling cigarettes to individuals under 19 years of age.

Such a measure would seemingly produce a marked reduction in the number of cigarettes sold to minors, ending the problem of teen smoking, correct? Not!

Since the demand for all goods and services, including that for tobacco products, is grounded in the freely chosen, personal valuations of individual people, no law can ever alter them against the will of the person.

Therefore, individuals would continue to demand the prohibited good regardless of the stated laws.

However, because of the restrictive nature of the government involvement, the production, distribution and therefore supply of cigarettes in the under-19 market would decrease, causing a dramatic increase in cigarette prices.

In addition, because of the severe penalties for cigarette trafficking in the under-19 market, the sellers would begin to demand a premium to compensate for their added risk, increasing the cost further for the smokers, thus imposing another unnecessary hardship.

The most unfortunate consequence associated with this policy is that the youth who wish to engage in the smoking habit, and are willing to pay the price, will have to suffer the added humiliation and cost of having to deal with someone outside of the legal realm: they will be forced into the criminal element, which is an unacceptable outcome.

By initiating coercion in trying to solve a social dilemma, you actually produce a result much more tragic than the original problem.

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