I confess that I took a puff or two when I was in college 30 years ago. It was no big deal. Of course, there is the slippery slope theory, but then maybe we should ban alcohol on that theory as well. Make it legal, but tax it up the wazzoo, like they do cigarettes.
Considering the heavy involvement of state governments in gambling, I don't see where the moral authority to make the slippery-slope argument can come from.
I agree, except too much tax and you've got the black market all over again. I say treat it like alcohol - punish the effects of the substance if they occur (bad driving, etc). But if folks can handle it responsibly, in their homes, why the fuss?
And for the record, I have never smoked the stuff, but I object to its demonization and subsequent wasted government resources.
The problem with taxing it up the wazoo is that you get the same kind of criminal activity associated with it as when it's illegal.
A while back in California, there was a strongarm robbery of a cigarette warehouse, where the security guards were held at gunpoint, tied up, and gagged, and the bandits made off with millions of dollars worth of tax stamps - a few rolls - along with several pallets of cigarettes.
There's also rampant cigarette smuggling and black marketeering between states with low and punitive cigarette taxes.