It's not because of the price that most Dominicans don't smoke, if it was cause of that, then we would see a decline in drinking, yet I doubt that's ever going to happen. Also, unlike the US there really hans't been an anti smoking campaign, at least none that I know of. In my opinion there are two main reasons why smoking is so unpopular in the DR; first of all it is not in style, it actually hasn't been in style for decades, unlike other countries were smoking might bee seen as cool by the youth, here is the total opposite, generally only old people smoke. Second and more importantly, smoking is seen as disgusting and gross by most people, Dominicans are generally hygiene freaks at least when it comes to our bodies, anything that can cause a person to smell bad, in this case smoking is generally look down upon.
That's one of the things I like about DR, i truly hate the smell and the smoke of cigarettes. Another thing I like is how unpopular smoking pot is among Dominicans, especially compare to America. I still have to see some one lighting a blunt in the streets or meet someone who has offered me any.