Tobacco has played an important role in the economy of the United States since the colonial era. American Indians presented Christopher Columbus with gifts of tobacco upon his arrival in 1492, and he introduced tobacco to Europe upon his return there. As demand rose in Europe, tobacco became the most important American agricultural export of the late eighteenth century.
High tobacco tariffs in England helped lead to the American Revolutionary War. Subsequently, the tobacco industry contributed significantly to the economic growth of the United States through much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Although the consumption of tobacco products has declined in recent years, tobacco growing and manufacturing continue to be important parts of several state economies, with a potential impact on the implementation of upstream, policy-based tobacco control interventions in these states. Evidence such as the following suggests that the economic importance of tobacco plays a key role in shaping state tobacco control policies and activities, social norms about tobacco use, and, consequently, tobacco use itself:
■ As of January 1, 2004, the four states with the lowest cigarette excise taxes per pack were Virginia (2.5¢), Kentucky (3¢), North Carolina (5¢), and South Carolina (7¢), all among the top tobacco-growing states. Since then, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina have all significantly increased their cigarette excise taxes, while South Carolina still ranks among the lowest.
■ The average cigarette excise tax in the six leading tobacco-growing states (Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia) is currently 25.7¢ per pack, while the average in non–tobaccogrowing states is 100.5¢ per pack. The overall average excise tax for all states as of February 2006 is 91.7¢.
■ The strength of state clean indoor air laws in non–tobacco-growing states was nearly five times that in the six leading tobacco-growing states, as measured by a comprehensive index that accounts for state preemption in 1999.
Tobacco Info
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 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.
Cigarettes are smoking products consumed by people and made out of cut tobacco leaves. Cigars are typically composed completely of whole-leaf tobacco. A cigarette has smaller size, composed of processed leaf, and white paper wrapping. The term cigarette refers to a tobacco cigarette too but it can apply to similar devices containing other herbs, such as cannabis.
