I don't smoke and I don't care if people do or don't. I do know people who do smoke seem to NEED cigarrettes. It's like an uncontrollable craving. And a lot of the people that are basically addicted to smoking started doing so when they were very young. The product may or may not be marketed to kids. I don't pay attention to that since I'm not the target. I'm just posting my perception of things, skewed as it may be.
Cigarrettes are definitely deadly. I guess the reason it's not illegal is because it's part of the economy. It's been part of the country for centuries. It's an industry. If tobacco were illegal, everyone from the farmer who grows it to the CEO who supports it, to the stores that sell it would collapse. It's one of those acceptable forms of self destruction. And I bet if cocaine were able to be controlled and taxed, it would be legal, too (for prescribed use). Like everything else, it's all business first and people second.
