Why ARE cigarettes legal
Not why is cigarettes legal

the way i see it is that it has been illegal for a very long time, so with most people (voters) it is thought to be as illegal and should be. so instead of looking up the problems that come with marijuana (or the lack there-of) they automaticaly say that it should be illegal and dont give it a second thought.

The government doesn’t really care about your health. They don’t care if cigarettes are addictive or cancerous because it doesn’t hurt corporate profit; it helps it. People will say marijuana is illegal because it is detrimental to society, offers no benefits, will increase car accidents/ driving under the influence, teenagers using, etc, but the real reason is simple: corporate greed. Marijuana is illegal because in the 1930s, the timber industry and William Randolph Hearst launched a smear campaign, turning the public against it. They did this not because marijuana was harmful but because the versatility of hemp could make them lose money in paper production. Now, it remains illegal for a similar reason. If it were legal to grow cannabis in the U.S., many corporations would lose profit because hemp can be used in almost everything. The corporate leaders have a lot of money and influence and use this to dominate politics. Tobacco, on the other hand, cannot be used for anything besides smoking; it wouldn’t hurt any powerful corporate leaders. The negative image marijuana has as a result of propoganda is another reason, as it turns a good deal of the public away from legalization. Marijuana was associated with blacks and hispanics around the time it was criminalized, which demonized it all the more in a racist white-dominated society. While cigarettes are likewise bashed by anti-smoking groups, many of those groups have only recently arisen.

I know a guy that his doctor told him he needed to take pot. He was so conservative and convinced that it was a terrible thing, even though the stuff he was taking was killing him, he wouldn’t us it. Many people in power have been brain washed into thinking it a dangerous drug or don’t want another drug on the market. while marijuana is beneficial and much of it’s byproducts useful in industries when it is used with alcohol it causes the alcohol high which tends towards violence to be intensified. They could out law the use with alcohol. It can inhibit driving and operation of equipment. Tends to cause tunnel vision thinking and focusing on just one thing at a time. I believe it’s benefits out way this. One legalizing it would stop gang activities and political payoffs. It is a excellent antidepressant without the bad side affects of current drugs. Many under chemo treatments can’t hold down and don’t have an interest in food. Marijuana can reverse this bad side affect. There are hundreds of medical uses and as a result many states are legalizing it for medical purposes. Industry could also benefit and the plant is environmentally friendly. Can replace many uses of plastics which are a great threat. If anything would boost the economy and increase revenue for taxes next to alcohol and cigarettes it would. Mostly I think it is just plain ignorance as a result of media that has kept it illegal.

Because the government hasn’t figured out a way to tax it, and alcohol companies don’t want to compete with marijuana. (They pay for the majority of anti-marijuana campaigns)

The whole thing is ridiculous. They are holding us to a standard of law that’s over 70 years old. Their argument back then is so preposterous, I can’t believe our government can’t figure out a way to tax it.