Being one of those libertarian-leaning Republicans, I'd love to share Mr. Weisberg's optimism, but that just isn't the way this wind is blowing. More than balancing out the inches of progress he cites are the rapid advance of tobacco prohibition and the War on Fattening Foods. We're hardly going to ban tobacco and then turn around and legalize a product that has most of the same health risks.

I'd love to be wrong, but I suspect I'll lose the right to smoke Nicaraguan and Dominican cigars before I gain the right to smoke Cuban ones.

But the swing to the right on tobacco and transfats is not toward outright prohibition, merely to "regulation". Both of these items have been woefully under-regulated in respect to their societal outcomes. Regulation is good. Prohibition is a blunt instrument. Regulation, at its best, is a scalpel. Regulation can be tweaked and refined. Prohibition is adamant. Regulation requires governance, Prohibition is dogma. We are not moving toward Libertarianism, but liberalness.

Sir,

I am afraid you might be right. I really, really want you to be wrong. I want so much for you to be wrong. By the time I'm allowed to get married, I won't be able to smoke a cigar at the party. I'll miss cigars.

Please don't be right. BTW, very clever turn of phrase at the end of your post.

We're hardly going to ban tobacco and then turn around and legalize a product that has most of the same health risks.

Pot doesn't have the same health risks as tobacco. One would think that since pot and tobacco smoke contain many of the same chemicals, smoking pot would increase the risk of cancer. Because either even heavy pot smokers don't actually smoke as much material as cigarrette smokers or marijuana has anti-cancer properties, there is no correlation. The latter possibility is supported by research showing that cannibinoids can shrink tumor growth and kill precancerous cells.

Also of importance is that fact that it is possible to use vaporizors and cook with marijuana, taking away this risk altogether.

Its also worth noting that pot in general and THC specifically are not physically addictive whereas nicotine is one of the most physically addictive substances on the planet.