There are many unhealthy habits in the world. None have been subject to the sustained campaign that tobacco has. The war on tobacco is, I think, more symptomatic of a disdain for those who have grown it than anything else. The health effects of sustained, excessive use are not pretty, but neither are those from any number of other substances that have been met with nowhere near the level of opprobrium. Alcohol, first and foremost. Then, we have the same supposedly health-conscious individuals turning around and advocating the legalization of marijuana. Marijuana smoke is somehow beneficial to the lungs, I take it? The whole thing is irrational and weird, imho. The party profiting by far and away the most from the sale of a pack of cigarettes would be government. Therein lies the reason it has not been made illegal. “Big Tobacco” is dwarfed by their cut.
I believe it has nothing to do with health, public safety, or any of the other reasons stated.
It has to do with power, control, and money.