Sweat beads on a man’s sun-wrinkled forehead as he hunches over his crop; pulling the stock to the side,
chopping above the bottom leaves, throwing the plant onto a pile building behind
him. He does this for fourteen hours, in the heat of summer, seven days a week.
It is harvest season for the Kentucky tobacco farmer. This is the life of any
given tobacco farmer. As no machine can handle the fragile crop with the care
that hands provide, farmers must manually plant and harvest each tobacco plant.
It is one of the most labor-intensive crops, necessitating at least 250
man-hours per acre. The tobacco farmer is the epitome of the American working
spirit: working hard for long hours day in and day out to provide for his or her
family. And that’s what any farmer would tell you his or her goal is: to put
bread on the table. But some current legislation would place a financial burden
on the dedicated tobacco farmers vital to communities all over America. By
targeting Big Tobacco companies with strict regulations, harsh taxes, and
wide-spread bans, the U.S. government is not only hindering our crisis-ridden
economy but also crippling one of America’s oldest lower to middle class
professions.
Smoking, in most states, is banned in all public buildings, restaurants,
bars, and even in parks and Time Square. Some hospitals refuse to even consider
an applicant if he or she is a smoker. With such wide-spread animosity toward
smoking, it comes as no surprise that tobacco farmers are struggling. But
instead of attempting to help the tobacco farmer, state and federal taxes are
leveled upon the crop they produce, further depressing these hard-working
Americans. Authors of this legislation argue that by taxing tobacco, less people
will buy tobacco products increasing the general health of the population. While
this is a valid argument, it inhibits a market that, in our loosely free market
system, runs itself just as any other facet of an economy; if there is a
customer base, companies will supply the product. Furthermore, because of these
taxes and the stigma associated with their crop, farmers are subject to the Big
Tobacco companies that these regulations were meant to affect. Some would
suggest that the farmer sell his crop over-seas where there is a larger market.
While this is a valid suggestion, it simply isn’t practical. Because of the
taxes on producing tobacco in America, foreign tobacco buyers find American
tobacco to be, while high-quality, extremely expensive. There is also the cost
of shipping the crop and the fees associated with currency exchange to be
accounted for. It is simply too expensive. Big Tobacco companies buy less
American tobacco for much of the same reasons. The future of the American
tobacco farmer seems bleak.
In addition to trampling the American tobacco farmer, these regulations
have created an opportunity for organized crime to thrive. A simple process is
used: mobs buy cigarettes in low-tax states and sell them in high-tax states,
tripling their investment. According to CNBC, over five billion tax dollars are
lost to black market cigarette sales every year in America, adding to the over
one hundred billion world-wide. With such staggering numbers, one would think
our government would take notice, but defending anything linked to tobacco is a
kind of “third rail” of politics. No politician is willing to risk re-election
over some no named tobacco farmer.
Although the taxes and bans on cigarettes were aimed at Big Tobacco, many
ended up putting money back into these corporations’ coffers. When cigarette ads
were banned on television and radio in April of 1970, Big Tobacco hardly
suffered. They kept most of their consumers, and continued to gain popularity
through the uncontrollable forces of peer pressure and addiction. In the end,
they walked away with excess revenue that would have been spent on advertising
expenses, and used said revenue to expand. Now, high tax rates are forcing Big
Tobacco either to pay more for American tobacco, or to buy cheap foreign
tobacco. The former is what is hoped for, but simple business tactics tell us
the latter is much more lucrative. So, by enacting this tobacco tax, our
government has inadvertently sent part of the U.S. economy to foreign tobacco
farmers.
Concerning the American farmer, many would argue that they should simply
shift from tobacco to other crops. Originally, I agreed with this approach. It
seemed viable; stop buying tobacco seeds and start buying other seeds. But I’m
no farmer and I was incorrect in my assumptions. To switch from tobacco, farmers
would need to purchase new equipment for planting, build new structures to house
the new crops, and depart from the methods of farming, in many cases, handed
down through generations. These additional costs would have to be paid for with
a severely diminished income as tobacco goes for roughly 1,500,000 an acre while
corn or soy, the two most prevalent crops in America, go for about 300,000. In
addition, some fields able to produce healthy tobacco would be less capable at
producing other, less hardy crops. The “Diversify to Survive” methodology is
not a viable option for many tobacco
farmers.
As a smoker, I do have a small personal interest in this subject. The
whole “broke college-student” thing has necessitated a reigning-in of my habit.
I would have something to gain if the heavy taxes on tobacco were repealed and
the regulations loosened. More money in my pocket is always nice, but my
personal financial gain does not diminish the seriousness of the matter. Several
thousand American farmers are looking at unemployment as the result of these
harsh penalties, and I cannot imagine giving up the profession passed on to me
from my father and his father and his father before him. America was built on
families and to tell a farmer he can’t do what his family has been doing for
generations just doesn’t sit well with me. And I’m not alone.
chopping above the bottom leaves, throwing the plant onto a pile building behind
him. He does this for fourteen hours, in the heat of summer, seven days a week.
It is harvest season for the Kentucky tobacco farmer. This is the life of any
given tobacco farmer. As no machine can handle the fragile crop with the care
that hands provide, farmers must manually plant and harvest each tobacco plant.
It is one of the most labor-intensive crops, necessitating at least 250
man-hours per acre. The tobacco farmer is the epitome of the American working
spirit: working hard for long hours day in and day out to provide for his or her
family. And that’s what any farmer would tell you his or her goal is: to put
bread on the table. But some current legislation would place a financial burden
on the dedicated tobacco farmers vital to communities all over America. By
targeting Big Tobacco companies with strict regulations, harsh taxes, and
wide-spread bans, the U.S. government is not only hindering our crisis-ridden
economy but also crippling one of America’s oldest lower to middle class
professions.
Smoking, in most states, is banned in all public buildings, restaurants,
bars, and even in parks and Time Square. Some hospitals refuse to even consider
an applicant if he or she is a smoker. With such wide-spread animosity toward
smoking, it comes as no surprise that tobacco farmers are struggling. But
instead of attempting to help the tobacco farmer, state and federal taxes are
leveled upon the crop they produce, further depressing these hard-working
Americans. Authors of this legislation argue that by taxing tobacco, less people
will buy tobacco products increasing the general health of the population. While
this is a valid argument, it inhibits a market that, in our loosely free market
system, runs itself just as any other facet of an economy; if there is a
customer base, companies will supply the product. Furthermore, because of these
taxes and the stigma associated with their crop, farmers are subject to the Big
Tobacco companies that these regulations were meant to affect. Some would
suggest that the farmer sell his crop over-seas where there is a larger market.
While this is a valid suggestion, it simply isn’t practical. Because of the
taxes on producing tobacco in America, foreign tobacco buyers find American
tobacco to be, while high-quality, extremely expensive. There is also the cost
of shipping the crop and the fees associated with currency exchange to be
accounted for. It is simply too expensive. Big Tobacco companies buy less
American tobacco for much of the same reasons. The future of the American
tobacco farmer seems bleak.
In addition to trampling the American tobacco farmer, these regulations
have created an opportunity for organized crime to thrive. A simple process is
used: mobs buy cigarettes in low-tax states and sell them in high-tax states,
tripling their investment. According to CNBC, over five billion tax dollars are
lost to black market cigarette sales every year in America, adding to the over
one hundred billion world-wide. With such staggering numbers, one would think
our government would take notice, but defending anything linked to tobacco is a
kind of “third rail” of politics. No politician is willing to risk re-election
over some no named tobacco farmer.
Although the taxes and bans on cigarettes were aimed at Big Tobacco, many
ended up putting money back into these corporations’ coffers. When cigarette ads
were banned on television and radio in April of 1970, Big Tobacco hardly
suffered. They kept most of their consumers, and continued to gain popularity
through the uncontrollable forces of peer pressure and addiction. In the end,
they walked away with excess revenue that would have been spent on advertising
expenses, and used said revenue to expand. Now, high tax rates are forcing Big
Tobacco either to pay more for American tobacco, or to buy cheap foreign
tobacco. The former is what is hoped for, but simple business tactics tell us
the latter is much more lucrative. So, by enacting this tobacco tax, our
government has inadvertently sent part of the U.S. economy to foreign tobacco
farmers.
Concerning the American farmer, many would argue that they should simply
shift from tobacco to other crops. Originally, I agreed with this approach. It
seemed viable; stop buying tobacco seeds and start buying other seeds. But I’m
no farmer and I was incorrect in my assumptions. To switch from tobacco, farmers
would need to purchase new equipment for planting, build new structures to house
the new crops, and depart from the methods of farming, in many cases, handed
down through generations. These additional costs would have to be paid for with
a severely diminished income as tobacco goes for roughly 1,500,000 an acre while
corn or soy, the two most prevalent crops in America, go for about 300,000. In
addition, some fields able to produce healthy tobacco would be less capable at
producing other, less hardy crops. The “Diversify to Survive” methodology is
not a viable option for many tobacco
farmers.
As a smoker, I do have a small personal interest in this subject. The
whole “broke college-student” thing has necessitated a reigning-in of my habit.
I would have something to gain if the heavy taxes on tobacco were repealed and
the regulations loosened. More money in my pocket is always nice, but my
personal financial gain does not diminish the seriousness of the matter. Several
thousand American farmers are looking at unemployment as the result of these
harsh penalties, and I cannot imagine giving up the profession passed on to me
from my father and his father and his father before him. America was built on
families and to tell a farmer he can’t do what his family has been doing for
generations just doesn’t sit well with me. And I’m not alone.