This is where our levels of governance fall apart. Is tobacco a food? No, of course not. But it is more like a drug, and it's also an agricultural product. That would fall under the auspice of the FDA, right? Wrong. It falls under ATF, mixed in with alcohol and firearms. The US just can't seem to figure out how to place certain legal items, who regulates them or how to tax them. States don't do much better. In PA most of our "sins and vice" taxes from gambling, lotteries, booze and smokes..... also funds things like education or elder care.

The Russians are running a campaign now, to encourage smoking, drinking and gambling. Because those activities generate a lot of taxable revenue. And those taxes help fuel the rest of the population's needs, like education.