If the government banned tobacco, people will then grow their own. And curing tobacco can be tricky - if you don't know what you are doing, the product can be lethal on the spot. This is what happened with the govt's attempt to ban alcohol many decades ago. People still craved it, tried to make it themselves and then in some cases it was improperly distilled and the consumer was left blind or dead, immediately.

A better question would be: what is creating such intense cravings? If you ban recreational substances, people will find substitutes that may be worse than the legal product.

Yes, it is true that there is hypocrisy involved when the govt. is making large amts of money by taxing these things that people crave so deeply. That does not mean we should not have the freedom to get sick by whatever means we wish.