How can a plant be banned? Tobacco has medicinal uses, is considered an organic pesticide, and is a sacred element of the rituals for many first peoples. Many individuals develop addiction to it, but the problems are the mass-corporate produced cigarettes and the additives. People who smoke Marlboros or Camels (for instance) aren't satisfied by self-rolled cigarettes containing just dried tobacco, because it's the extra additives (to keep them burning evenly, etc. -- when was the last time you saw a cigarette "canoe"?) that create the fiercest addictions.