The state's current tobacco tax is just 87 cents a pack, far below the national average of $1.46 -- and even if Prop. 29 passes, California still would have the 25th highest tax in the nation. So why hasn't the Legislature raised the tax? Oh, it has tried. And tried. And tried -- 33 times in the past 30 years. It succeeded only once, in 1993, adding a paltry 2 cents a pack for breast cancer research.