You are correct. We have been made to be the low lives, among society. Pushed outside, and looked down by anyone passing by. Not too long ago, smoking was cool. Ads on TV, ash trays in hospitals, smokers everywhere. Heck, if you gave blood they gave you cigarettes. Get a few flight attendances together, and a some good trial lawyers, and this is what we end up with. It snowballs.
I don't know about "low lifes," but there's simply nothing you can do about the fact that around 70 or more percent of the adult population find the habit offensive. You can't force people to like a particular behavior; at best you can ask for their tolerance.
There are two parts to the smoking issue; one political and the other social. You can always affect the political aspect simply by being in a majority, or exerting influence on the majority, but the social aspect is driven by public opinion, which isn't quite as amenable to change.
All's not lost. In Milwaukee, you can still get cigs for voting Democrat.