North Carolina's Addiction to Smoking: A State Faces the Decline of a Major Export

Abstract

Throughout the history of North Carolina, tobacco has always had an important role in the economy. From the beginning, North Carolina was exporting tobacco along with other cash crops. North Carolina's development depended largely on growing cash crops for export, particularly tobacco. To complement the growth of tobacco in the state, a cigarette industry developed there as well. The cigarette companies became extremely powerful, and the small tobacco farmer only had a few federal regulations to protect himself. The cigarette companies expanded into other industries, so that the companies were some of the most powerful in the world. They used this power to quiet questions about the safety of their main product, and for a long time, remained immune to any claims against them. Recently, however, the cigarette industry has lost some if its power. It is now vulnerable to court cases and may be held accountable for billions of dollars of damage. This will affect the small tobacco farmer in North Carolina, as well as the cigarette industry. North Carolina will have to adjust, as the future of a major output becomes uncertain The SIP concludes with many unanswered questions. The outcome of the many court cases affecting the tobacco industry is not yet known. The success of future regulations limiting the sale of cigarettes is not yet known. And so the future of tobacco in the North Carolina is an uncertainty. Tobacco will probably fade away as a major crop in the state. For those that depend on it, there will be hard times ahead.