Comment by LocalH

> Are tabacco taxes good? They encourage the same thing that smoking bans do, a reduction in smoking leading to better health for the population.

As a smoker, that is absolute bullshit. Exhorbitant tobacco taxes only piss off people who are going to buy the product anyway. They disproportionately punish poor people for being poor, and they don't put as much of a dent into the amount of smoking that happens as you think they do.