In a lot of countries, it is easier to enforce a public ban than it is to collect taxes. A high tax on imports may simply lead to imports being smuggled in, an

In a lot of countries, it is easier to enforce a public ban than it is to collect taxes. A high tax on imports may simply lead to imports being smuggled in, and tax stamps being forged. A total ban can be trivially enforced---see a junk food container, its illegal.