A relative pointed out the potential irony that some people support making tobacco illegal while making marijuana legal. As someone in CO who voted for Prop 64 (which passed), but who also supports banning smoking in offices, restaurants, etc. I will explain my thinking.
Voting yes was not a given for me. Many highly visible people, including our last 2 governors, were vocally opposed, and I wont be running to the local dispensary to get high.
I generally think you should be able to do whatever you want in your own house, up until it starts negatively impacting other people. You can smoke tobacco, marijuana or crystal meth for all I care. If you drive under the influence, rob a liquor store, or expose children to drugs you are committing a crime we have laws to cover - the act of consumption does not need to be criminal.
Beyond this fundamental belief though, are the financial implications of the matter. Our state will collect an estimated $60M in taxes over just the first 5 years, much of which will be routed to education - where it is sorely needed. Add to that the stimulus of new industry, requiring both government and private sector jobs, while choking out the current underworld distribution through Mexico.
Which leads to my final and most important point. Our longest war is not Afghanistan, its our war on drugs. We spend over $15 Billion dollars a year on it, and it puts our law enforcement officials in harms way. Over 25% of the people in prison are there from drug related crimes. And for all that, are we winning? We need a different approach.
So no, I'm not a proponent for making tobacco illegal, but I don't want you smoking it (or anything) where I have to breath it. Over time, we need to try some different approaches to the war on drugs. Because doing the same thing again and again, expecting different results, is... insanity.
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