Busted for Possession

Florida tries to snuff out teen smoking by taking kids to court

Savoring the last drag of his cigarette, Josh Randall, a stocky 17-year-old Miami high school senior, nonchalantly flicked the butt to the curb. As he headed back inside the mall, four undercover police officers wearing Miami Dolphins T shirts bailed out of a black sedan with tinted windows. They wrote the teen a citation to appear in court, then ordered him to hold still while they snapped his mug shot. The charge? Being a minor in possession of one Marlboro cigarette.

Incredulous, Randall ignored the summons. Six weeks later, he got a notice in the mail that his driver's license had...

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