As I non-smoker, I have a concern about high cigarette taxes. Liberals, while generally in support of high cig taxes, will also decry the cig taxes as being regressive (what? liberals trying to have it both ways? what a surprise!), impacting the poor more than the rich. Same with the state lottery, fundamentally a tax on the stupid. Liberals will use these forms of regressive taxation to argue in favor of retained or increased "progressive" taxation, such as capital gains, death taxes, and property taxes, so as to "balance" the situation. Any method possible to gouge the successful to the benefit of the non-producers, and of the bureaucracy.
So while I have precious little sympathy for those who like to suck smoke from burning leaves into their lungs (gee, wouldn't that seem intuitively to be a bad idea?), I worry that excess taxes on the habit may give cover to those who wish to "soak the rich," until there are none left to soak. These people need to be reminded that the allegedly regressive cig tax is voluntary, as is the lottery "tax."