Obviously, alcohol had its period of opposition. But since the end of prohibition, there's been to talk with any momentum about re-instating it. Alcohol is shown prominently in the media, available at most eateries, and underage drinking is widely accepted as normal.
Conversely, tobacco is banned from advertising. Many states ban smoking indoors outright. There is an enormous anti-smoking campaign expounding its negative health effects. And statistics show that smokers are less common now than in ages past.
What lead to this backlash against the tobacco industry, while other potentially unhealthy habits like fast food, soda, and alcohol have gone largely unchallenged?
There are a lot of people who have the occasional drink with dinner, or a few drinks on a night out with friends and for the most part, this poses little to no danger to them.
Conversely, very very few people have an occasional cigarette, the vast majority of smokers habitually smoke - meaning they are addicts. I would guess on average, smokers smoke a pack day or something close to that. At least that's what I did when I used to smoke.
If 90% of people who drank alcohol became legitimate alcoholics with liver diseases and/or cancer, I would imagine things would be a little different.
Let me put it this way - I used to smoke, and I knew that continuing to smoke exponentially increased my risk for cancer. So I stopped. I continue to drink occasionally, as some studies have shown that there could even be benefits to having a drink (glass of red wine for example) with dinner. Meanwhile, there are absolutely no benefits to smoking at all, whatsoever.
Just my two cents.