Just as Gov. Perdue signs a state smoking ban that will help drive the tobacco industry out of North Carolina, U.S. Sens. Burr and Hagan are opposing efforts to regulate tobacco.
Here’s hoping that one day we’ll have intellectual honesty from policymakers and advocates engaged in this debate: either ban tobacco or stop harassing a legal industry and its customers. In the meantime, people should have the right to buy and use a legal product if they want it, regardless of what others think.
My view is in line with that of Tommy Payne, executive vice president of Reynolds American Inc. of Winston-Salem. In a March 29 letter to the editor of the Raleigh News & Observer, Mr. Payne describes what he sees happening in this state, particularly as it relates to possible tax hikes on tobacco:
What is not working is this state’s economy. The textile and furniture industries are all but gone. Now, the governor appears to be trying to run the tobacco industry out of the state. The tobacco industry provides 50,000 jobs and billions in wages and taxes in North Carolina. Perdue’s tax proposal will further drive down sales of tobacco products and put those jobs and revenues at risk. In a recession, that’s not gutsy; it’s ill-conceived.
Again, either make tobacco illegal or leave this industry alone.
