Native American Tobaccoo flower, leaves, and buds
Tobacco is an annual or bi-annual growing 1-3 meters tall with large sticky leaves that contain nicotine. Native to the Americas, tobacco has a long history of use as a shamanic inebriant and stimulant. It is extremely popular and well-known for its addictive potential.
Nicotiana tabacum
Nicotiana rustica leaves.
Nicotiana rustica leaves have a nicotine content as high as 9%, whereas Nicotiana tabacum (common tobacco) leaves contain about 1 to 3%
A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco which is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Sumatra, Philippines, and the Eastern United States.
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines. In consumption it may be in the form of cigarettes smoking, snuffing, chewing, dipping tobacco, or snus.
Governor cigarette tax hike draws fire
A massive state budget plan rolled out Tuesday by Gov. Bev Perdue contains much to digest, but various state and local officials wasted no time in criticizing one of its key proposals, a $1-per-pack cigarette tax hike.
That state increase would come on the heels of a federal cigarette tax hike from 39 cents to $1.01 per pack that goes into effect on April 1.
“That means people in Mount Airy and Surry County are probably going to sneak across the line to Virginia to buy cigarettes,” state Sen. Don East of Surry County said Tuesday afternoon of Perdue’s budget package. It also calls for a 5-percent tax surcharge on alcohol as part of her emphasis on so-called “sin taxes.”
The new governor’s budget further prescribes cutting some 1,400 positions from the state government payroll and eliminating 20 programs she considers duplications, inefficient and “absolutely inessential.” The package would reduce expenditures by $2.6 billion during the next two years.
“The alcohol and tobacco taxes are especially going to impact our area,” East, a Republican from Pilot Mountain, said of the measure expected to generate $508 million.
The Democratic governor’s spending plan is a response to a sagging economy that has threatened revenues typically counted on by state government to fund its operations.
Overall state spending for education would increase by $350 million, with the help of federal stimulus money, although Perdue said that will “do little” to move North Carolina’s educational system forward in comparison with other states.
Aside from the proposed cigarette and alcohol hikes, Perdue’s plan contains no broad-based tax increases. North Carolina’s version of the earned income tax credit would be raised to aid low-to-moderate-income families. Also, the budget proposal calls for businesses with profits of less than $100,000 to be exempt from state tax for the first $25,000 of net income, with the amount lowering to the first $15,000 for business earning between $100,000 and $200,000.
“This budget probably weighs about 12 pounds, I’d say,” East said.
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