When Pusher Comes to Shove?

It's difficult to know why the Tobacco Companies are always 'treated with kidd gloves'. They are, afterall, retailing nicotine. Nicotine is, even by their own (legally-enforceable) admissions, an extremely addictive drug. There's nothing in the former or current behaviour of Tobacco Companies, suggesting they have any real concerns about human health. Tobacco Companies have always tried to maximise their numbers of users (an addictive compound is quite useful in this respect). This, of course, maximises their already considerable profits. Vapes and nicotine pouches are not produced to save lives. The fact that they may help some cigarette smokers kick their habit is really 'smokewashing'. The Tobacco Companies are dancing rings around legislators, targeting the young, the ignorant, as well as folk who happen to live in countries with minimal anti-smoking laws. And yet, tobacco is apparently an 'industry' rather than a societal menace.