Jonna hit the nail on the head. So completely true!
I follow a lot of health/nutrition forums and blogs, and yes- politicians are always looking for more things to tax. Fat, sugary soft drinks, fast food, trans fat, etc. The problem there is that nobody really knows what causes excess weight accumulation. Gary Taubes wrote a book about it (Good Calories, Bad Calories) after researching 150 years of nutrition "science" (or lack of).
The real reason why I quit was not exactly for health reasons. It was to restore my credibility and win a challenge. I told my Mom I would quit smoking if she would quit eating processed refined carbohydrates like white flour, sugar, corn, wheat (basically all grains in general). So I quit. Unfortunately, she didn't hold up to her end of the deal & she's still eating garbage food. Sucked in by the "whole grain" propaganda.
They raised the tax here again on cigarettes and alcohol. At the same time, I heard that Nanci Pelosi racked up over a hundred thousand dollars on booze and food for her private plane. All politicians are just money hungry crooks, doesn't matter what letter they have after their name. We Americans are taxed to the point where we can't afford to have a smoke or glass of wine- only the politicians can afford that.
Sorry for the rant. I must go check to see if my Limoncello is ready.
Edit: I've just had an epiphany. The US government doles out money for scientific research. If you produce research that makes the government more money, you will get more research grants. If you torture the scientific data, it will show whatever you want it to show. So if you show that a particular food component is bad, or that smoking is unhealthy, you will please the government because it can impose a new tax and make lots of moolah.