In the USA, states have enjoyed decades of revenue from the sale of tobacco cigarettes.
The money was supposed to repair some of the damage smoking has done. In reality, it has been largely frittered away.
The source of the revenue is the Tobacco Master Settlement. While aimed at punishing tobacco companies, the settlement actually ended up helping them.
But with cigarette sales declining, vapes are the next target, and with potentially dire consequences…
…Brent Stafford of Regulator Watch told us:
“Fundamentally what you have is a protection racket, where tobacco companies are allowed to sell lethal products without fear of prosecution in return for forking over cash to governments.”
James Dunworth – ashtrayBLOG – 2021-07-15.