The economic impact of smoking is debatable, too. Smokers pay taxes on their cigarettes, and they tend to collect less in pension and Social Security retirement benefits and require Medicare for a longer time than nonsmokers. (=>"Fewer Smokers Means Higher Taxpayer Costs, Study Finds")
As with other vices like gambling and alcohol that are highly taxed, cigarette taxes are a regressive tax. (Not that there is anything wrong with that!)
