They actually take in less revenue now with cig then they did before they started taxing it, hence the constant raising of the cig tax in order to raise revenues which then drives more people to stop smoking and fewer revenues to be collected. Soon, and it may have already started, cigs will be smuggled in.
Don't believe me? Cigars of certain types are smuggled in now. Every once in a while they will make a big "illegal cigar" bust, and cigars haven't been taxed much until recently.
Making MJ legal should take the crime out of it, and it will for a while(-the growers who now grow it illegally will probably get out of the market, but farmers eager for a new crop will start up)but they will kill that off like they have cigs.
I don’t know exactly about this “illegal cigar” thing, but maybe it might have to do with cubans?
Nobody knows about the specifics of this pot legalization, but the likely result is that whatever big money is involved in the sale of smuggled pot would dry up.
Most people would buy it in stores. Other people would grow it themselves. If the taxes are excessive, the people who are growing it (legally) might sell it. But since it’s so cheap to grow, and legal to grow, people who have it might just give it away.
We don’t know the specifics of the plan though.