Not sure but I think with taxes tobacco is probably more expensive dose-for-dose than marijuana in most US states, assuming a stable and reliable connection. Not that it has any real bearing, just an thing I have observed, even with the illegality of marijuana. So again, the growers and distributors mostly don't care... if they go to prison, they have their allies in the system to protect them, and often are treated with extreme lenience by the court system if they have the correct connections. The drug war is a joke in large part because no one involved really wants to fight it... just like prohibition, there was far more incentive for law enforcement to ally with bootleggers. Ultimately the movers behind prohibition and the drug war are mostly interested in dictating who can and who can't have access, rather than stamping out a vice entirely... you never hear of middle- or upper-class, educated members of society receiving much punishment for drug violations, and it's well established that the legal system bends over backwards to protect such people. The drug war is just another extension of class war, and is fought mostly so that the upper classes can have their priveliged access. If it were fought in a way to seriously stamp out the drug trade, the cartels' activity in the US at least would be crushed within a decade, considering the funding and police powers that are held by the government.