Well duh. After the first 20 or 30 tax increases on cigarettes that were supposed curtail their use utterly failed to do so, did any liberal suggest that perhaps they were not having the proper effect?
If the first increase in cigarette taxes proposed to curtail their use actually succeeded and the sale of cigarettes dropped significantly, the resulting loss of tax revenue would have had liberals screaming for it's repeal on the grounds that is it unfair to tax victims of an addiction. Since the reverse is true, they are more than happy to do so.