Do Adolescents with Emotional Or Behavioral Problems Respond to Cigarette Prices‪?‬

1. Introduction Cigarette smoking is the most preventable cause of morbidity and mortality (McGinnis and Foege 1993; Peto et al. 1994; Mokdad et al. 2004). Medical research has established a strong link between chronic cigarette use and lung cancer at least since the 1964 Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health. Lung cancer accounts for about 30% Of all cancer deaths, and about 85% of lung cancer deaths are attributable to tobacco use (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1989). Cigarette smoking is also one of the leading risk factors of cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States at the turn of the 21st century. (1) Each year more than 400,000 Americans die from cigarette smoking, which indicates that 20% of all deaths are cigarette related (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2008). Youth smoking is particularly important in this context, as the epidemiological evidence indicates that individuals who avoid smoking in adolescence or in young adulthood are unlikely to ever become smokers. In developed countries about 80% of adult smokers started smoking in their teens, and across the world there is an emergent trend toward initiation of smoking at younger ages (World Bank 1999).