When bureaucrats try to tax and regulate a product out of existence, they succeed … in bolstering black markets. This was true when the United States outlawed “intoxicating liquors” more than 100 years ago, and it’s true today when states prohibitively tax tobacco and inadvertently create elaborate smuggling rings. This phenomenon is hardly limited to the United States. According to a recently released report by the consulting firm KPMG, heavy-handed government policies in Latin America and Canada are fueling illicit sales of cigarettes and corresponding criminal activity. Instead of doubling down on the same failed policies, officials in these countries — and around the world — should embrace a light-touch approach that puts consumers first. In the 11 markets studied in the KPMG report (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Panama), cigarette consumption is down, but that’s only part of the story.…