All I can say is that I’m glad I never started smoking cigarettes. Cigars and pipes without inhaling another story. But gave those up too. I am sympathetic toward those hooked who are paying $6-$12/pack for those coffin nails. And they are usually lower-income people. American cig manufacturers will still do fine with their addicts in Europe, South America, and especially Asia where they still smoke like chimneys. But thanks to cigarette smokers for providing a lot of revenue that governments would otherwise have to obtain elsewhere.
I empathize with people with addictive behavior. . .toning down the sugar in my life has been a journey. But I figure (at least from what I have observed and been told) the taxpayers are being duped by paying taxes that go toward much of the foodstamp/cigarette fraud.