Bulldogbrisr,
Just to be clear.... Liberals don't believe that kind of stuff, any more than conservatives believe Hitler was a good guy. Im not even sure what socialism means anymore, and I can't think of a country in history where socialism led to communism (ironically, it was so-called liberal socialists who helped lead the fight against Soviet Russia, or at least people who get called socialists nowadays).
But that's all irrelevant, because it's not a socialism issue. This isn't about whether the government should regulate industry or help lower income workers not starve. It's about whether a drug should be banned from public consumption. I have heard my entire life from conservatives talking about the evils of drugs and the necessarily of locking millions of Americans behind bars. Fewer people use tobacco so it doesn't directly affect as many as it used to, peoples now realize it is a drug, and the simple fact is (as has been pointed out already) Big Tobacco got caught with their pants down. But banning cigarettes is 100 percent consistent with banning other drugs used recreationally. I agree that the government should not do it, I believe we should have the right to make up our minds about our private lives.... But this is completely consistent with the government using its power to dictate what we do with ourselves, and the conservatives have led the charge on the govenrments right to do exactly that. Or, at least, until it was something that directly affected them.
It's not a liberal/conservative issue. Here in Tennessee, we have banned smoking in restaurants and businesses, you cannot smoke it hotel rooms, and more anti smoking measures are comings. Guess what? Our governor and both houses of the legislature are completely dominated by conservative Republicans. The entire liberal/Democratic delegation to the state capital could fit in my living room with room to spare! They HATE so called socialists, refuse to accept Obamacare dollars, and still are anti tobacco.
You want to point a finger? Point it at the insurance companies, NONE of which are even remotely socialist and are, in fact, the most successful capitalists in our nation. They are pushing the anti tobacco agenda as hard as possible, and pouring their campaign contributions in ways to advance it. Why? They believe it will make them money. It's pure capitalism in action -- they have the money to buy politicians, they want tobacco gone because they believe it will help their bottom line, and they have more money /power than any other industry in the country. Money trumps freedom -- always has, always will.