Posted on 04/15/2018 12:34:44 PM PDT by Drango
LUMBERTON — A quarter century after tobacco was the money crop in Robeson County, bringing in hundreds of millions a year to farmers and those who provide support services, the amount of tobacco grown here is a fraction of what it was then.
But the number of Robeson County residents who smoke remains strong, the highest percentage in the state, causing a financial drain in a poor county and hurting its collective health.
North Carolina produced and sold more than $647 million worth of tobacco in 2016, putting it among the country’s leaders in flue-cured tobacco production, but Robeson’s once-booming production market is being replaced by consumption.
The rate of tobacco use in the county was 26.8 percent among adults in Robeson County during 2017, far higher than the state rate of 17.9 percent, and the national rate of 17.1 percent. With lenient tobacco laws, low taxes and a vulnerable low-income population, too many residents continue to inhale carcinogens, unable to quit or unwilling to try.
The American Lung Association recently released a set of grades for each state, measuring the effectiveness of tobacco cessation funding, smoke-free air laws, excise taxes, access to cessation treatments and laws to increase.
North Carolina received all F’s.
One subject the grades doesn’t cover is the health outcomes for those who use tobacco. The lung cancer incidence rate in North Carolina from 2010 to 2014 was 70 cases per 100,000 general population, topping the national average of 61.2 per 100,000, according to the American Lung Association. Robeson County exceeded both of those rates with 73.3 cases per 100,000.
Lung cancer is one example of many malignancies that can result from tobacco use. Cancer of the mouth, larynx, kidney and stomach are among the potential risks, and smoking is a major contributor to heart disease, the nation’s No. 1 killer.
Tobacco is also linked to chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
Donnie Beck, a Lumberton resident, was a three-pack-a-day smoker for three decades beginning as a 19-year-old in 1969.
“Back then, they thought it was cool,” Beck said.
A pack of cigarettes was 35 cents at the time. As his addiction to tobacco grew stronger, Beck found himself going to the store in the middle of the night to get a smoke.
“I had a few health problems. My doctor told me I needed to quit smoking,” Beck said. “Plus, my new girlfriend said I was stinking. As a smoker, you can’t smell how you smell. After the doctor and after her, I decided to quit cold turkey.
“I just laid them down one day and said I was going to quit. I never touched another one. I had an urge for about two years to grab another one.”
Beck’s health and outlook on life improved, but he also realized the toll tobacco took on his wallet.
“When I quit, I think they were $1.25. If I was smoking today, I’d be spending $16 a day, which is astronomical when it comes to spending money.”
The current average price of a pack of cigarettes in North Carolina is around $5.50.
North Carolina’s cigarette excise tax is 45 cents per a 20-pack, according to data from the National Association of Tobacco Outlets — fifth-lowest total in the nation, far below from New York’s rate of $4.35, the nation’s highest.
Laws concerning where a person can and cannot smoke are more lenient in Robeson County than across the state and nation. Those laws get especially complicated when considering the differences between cigarettes and vaporizers.
“Alternative devices are viewed as tobacco,” said Bill Smith, director of the county Health Department. “No smoking means no cigarettes, but yes to vaping. No tobacco use restricts all of that.”
As of January, five states and about 285 municipalities had raised the minimum age for tobacco purchases to 21. While that change makes it tougher for younger people to obtain tobacco products, it is oftentimes the result of a number of other smaller initiatives.
“I’m not necessarily the biggest proponent of that, because states that went to do that also had high taxes, smoke-free workplaces, they’ve done a lot of other things,” Smith said. “The last thing left was to go to 21. North Carolina has a push for it, but you’ve skipped all these other things.”
A push to keep tobacco out of the hands of young people came in the form of court-ordered commercials broadcast by tobacco companies as a result of a 1999 lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice against Big Tobacco. A U.S. District Court judge ruled in 2006 that the companies would be held financially responsible for the commercials, but several appeals on the ruling delayed the mandate for almost 11 years.
The ads began to run on public television late in 2017, more than a decade after the lawsuit played out.
“It took so long that the kids don’t read the media (now),” Smith said. “They don’t read mainstream TV. By the time it played, the time the tobacco industry had strung it out so long, it lost the crowd they (the lawsuit’s plaintiffs) were trying to get.”
As the target audience for those advertisements aged, a major change also took place for tobacco producers in Robeson County.
The acreage covered by tobacco crops in the region, which exceeded 17,000 in the 1980s, began to fall drastically. By 2015, the county had an estimated 2,000 acres of tobacco on its farms.
A major reason for that decline was the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act of 2004.
Developed after years of lobbying for anti-tobacco legislation by President Bill Clinton, the Tobacco Reform Act deregulated U.S. tobacco production and ended guaranteed minimum prices for the crop.
The payment program came to an end in 2015. While many farmers benefited from the buyout over the years, the idea of not being able to rely on the check while tobacco commodity prices decreased around the country made the crop less appealing.
That factor, along with the rise in popularity of alternative smoking devices and an increased awareness of the dangers of smoking, contributed to the downfall of Robeson County’s tobacco industry.
Evidence of that downfall can be seen in the county’s agricultural census. In 1992, 29,821,830 pounds of tobacco were produced in Robeson. In 2012, the most recent census, that total had plummeted to 4,916,204.
Much of that tobacco might not even be burned in the United States. The popularity of flue-cured tobacco overseas has put a greater value on exporting the crop.
China was one of the main consumers of tobacco produced in North Carolina as of 2016, according to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
An advertisement published by Robeson County Warehouse in The Robesonian in July 1942 read: “Tobacco growers: Tobacco is your money crop.”
The advertisement lists prices for tobacco at a variety of markets at the time before sending a bold message to the competition: “We lead — others follow.”
Seventy-six years later, that is no longer the case in Robeson County.
“I grew up in the 1950s/1960s...middle class suburbia.Everyone smoked...my parents we far from unique.At least not in *my* neck of the woods. “
How right you are! I remember when America was still America dancing with women and they complimented me on the fine aroma of the pipe I was smoking. I remember asking stewardessees if it was ok to smoke my pipe and they said sure...we love the smell.
Long story short...I've seen more dead people than I care to remember.Cancer...heart attacks...strokes...murders...suicides...AIDS....COPD (usually caused by cigarettes)...and drunk driver accidents.
I'm sure we both understand that smoking *and* driving drunk can have catastrophic consequences...so exactly what are we discussing?
That's crazy. I roll my own and spend about $400 dollars a year on tobacco and papers. And that's after 0bama's 1,200% tax increase on loose tobacco.
My Granny *experienced a premature death* at age 72.... Cancer that spread throughout her body. But she never smoked....
Just sayin’.
My cousins, who are non-smoking neurotic "organic only" liberals with "sensitivities" to "solvents" in the air that no one else can detect said they were surprised that they didn't smell tobacco on me.
“Overweight” people are the cause of more health related issues than smokers........has been so for the past several years...... I expect that will continue to increase.
“and leave horrid health issues later in life that most cant remotely afford to take care of.”
They SOMETIMES have horrible health issues,they sometimes don’t.
You may find this hard to believe but I have actually known non-smokers who have had horrible health issues——and are no longer here.
.
I’m sure you’ve seen it all and I have nothing but admiration for nurses. Sorry about your mother.
Don’t matter to me; I grow my own tobacco, cure it and cut it.
Depending on how I cure, cut, or twist, I can smoke it in my pipe, roll a cigarette, or have a good chaw.
I am 68 years old now (almost 69 and haven’t seen a doctor in over 20 years), still in good health, and do all my work on the farm by myself.
I will admit as I have gotten older and more financially secure, I have purchased a few toys to help with the heavy labor.
A tractor for the plowing and heavy dirt moving, a riding mower for mowing the meadow, a chain saw and splitter for the fire wood.
Just beats the hell out of doing it all by hand like I used to.
Started smoking when I was 11 years old, my Dad taught me how to roll.
Been growing my own tobacco for about 15 years.
Cure, cut, and twist.
One cut for the pipe (coarse), one cut for the cigarette (fine), twist for the chew.
Don’t spend money on tobacco anymore, just papers.
Little bit of labor (which you would spend on the dollars for store bought anyway) and NO TAXES.
“Smoking wacky tobacky escapes public disapproval even though it carries additional personal and public health risks over tobacco smoking”
and it STINKS so bad that cops smell it, turn their cruisers around, to chase down and pull over the potheads.
The smell of a control substance emanating from the vehicle is probable cause to search it.
BUSTED!
There is quite a trade in out of state cigarettes in NY. Some of the players include traditional organized crime.
After losing both parents, a brother in law, a father in law and in the process of losing a cousin to smoking related illness, I thank God every day that I never started. As a side note, I often see drivers holding a cigarette outside their car window so as not to have too much smoke in the car I guess. They don’t mind putting it straight into their lungs but don’t smell up the car!
Savvy farmers will switch their money crop to legalized marijuana.
I know some people in NC who are looking to buy some farming acreage in anticipation of the state legalizing it one day.
I’m curious...is the plant itself hard to grow? I have some experience with plants (worked two seasons on a perennial farm) I’m in Louisiana now....not sure if the climate is condusive for it ...real damp...
I own many shares in RAI:US (now BATS:LN). What can I say?
Actually, in CO where pot is considered an ingestible like food, there are strict guidelines for listing the ingredients. You know, just like any other food for sale.
It is not unregulated.
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