Marijuana is a plant that is very easy to grow, has few negative long-term side effects, has several medicinal properties, and its ban and subsequent enforcemen

Marijuana is a plant that is very easy to grow, has few negative long-term side effects, has several medicinal properties, and its ban and subsequent enforcement existed to disenfranchise anti-war folks and minorities. Additionally its ban helped gangs in South and Mezoamerica make a lot of money by selling it in the US. Cigarettes have few positive side effects and heavily contributes to the #1 preventable disease in the US: cardiovascular disease. AFAIK there are no outright bans on nicotine or tobacco products. However, the places you may consume them in public are shrinking (and often the same restrictions are placed on marijuana). Also the kind of products that are attractive to kids are being targeted (again, AFAIK companies are not allowed to market marijuana - or alcohol - to children). It seems to me that tobacco used to be much more prevalent but is being re-categorized from "acceptable everywhere" into the same group as alcohol. And marijuana is being re-categorized from Schedule 1 to the same category as alcohol.