Tobacco Documents Online

Widely Misunderstood ¢~m ga~ramee~g furme~ a min~num price ~er ~ ~ ~ ~ for ~ ~ a ~bi~t~ of ~t do~ by ~ ~ G~' ~or- ~ ~ ~e ~ ~ C~ o~e ~i~ C~. ~ t~o p~ce sup~ pm~. It is so misundemtnod. Ind~ cdti~ de~u~e a Federal bu~auc~y that e~ou~ ~ers to ~w the while dishing ~e nse of tobacco produc~. End this tobacco "subddy," The m~y isn't a gffL It's a lo~n, r~- paid with inst. If a ~s ~ ~ to bd~ an auction bid ~ at ~t ono c~t ~ove ~e p~det~n~ sup~ ~, le~ and us~ the ~nds ~m CCC to m~e the ~er a loan equal to the suppo~ price. ~e cco~ra~v~ p~s ~d sto~ the t~a~o, ~ng ~e m~t i~dsh- ~le of ~ cm~, and when dcm~ inc~ ~cy sell ~e t~co, thus ~paylng the Io~ pl~ ~m~ inte~st. Post Of The Program Legislators in the nation's capital today are more cust-couscinus than It's time to plant that tobacco. Turner Gilmer, Castlewood. Va.,favors burley on his hillside form. on a self-sustaining basis at no cost to the U. S. Department of Agriculture. During the llfe of the tobacco pro- gram, approximately $130 billion has been collected by the national, state, and local governments in cigarette Tobacco also contributes favorably supports, cigarettes could cost less. John Pinney, director of the govern- meat's Office on Smoking and Health, said in 1980: "We've reached the con- clusion that the price support program in no way affeeta any aspect of eigeretto smoking. It doesn°t have anything to do with whether or not people start. It u~ure-this ~overnment~schizo~ ever. The~.vorth~f FederalTro~to lhismatinn~s~ntemational/mde~' -al~toes~not in~ny~ay2d~ect whether_or__ phrenia." In fact, tobacco is not subsidized. A g6vernment pdce support program guarantees farmers a minimum price for the tobacco they grow. And, throughout America, their corn, rice, peanut, and cotton crops--13 different commodities in all. The U. S. Department of Agricnlture administers the laws to assure an ade- quate supply of tobacco and the other crops, and to provide a reasonable re- turn on investment. To be eligible to participate in the tobacco program, a grower must guar- antee not to produce more than specific acreage and poundage allotments. More than 95 percent of tobacco farm- ors, through periodic referendums, have continued to favor thesa voluntary production and marketing quotas. Under the program, the Commodity Credit Coqx (CCC), an agency of the Federal government, makes loans to have to be proven. And Congressmen are learning that the strong tobacco price stabilization and production control program is the must successful of all government farm commodity programs. Since it was begun in 1933, when the Great Depression threatened to de- stroy the American economy, the to- bacco cooperatives have handled a total of $5.5 billion in loans. Tobacco's loan repayment rate is about 99 percent. During these past 47 years, unpaid loans have amounted to $57 million. That's less than 0.1 percent of the cost of all the 13 farm commodity price sup- port programs. Put another way, the net cost of the tobacco loan program over 47 years represents about what the Federal gav- eramant spends every 45 minutes. Indeed, the underlyingphilosophy of the tobacco program is that tobacco growers will operate and administer it It is naive to believe that cigarette advertising is the cause of smoking, writes Reinhold Bergler, in his new, scholarly book, Advertising and Ciga- rette Smoking: A Psychological Study. (1981: Hans Huher Publishers, Bern, Stuttgart, and Vienna; softcover, printed in Switzerland.) Bergier, a professor of psychology, writes that cigarette ads are seen by some as a scapegoat for the continued popularity of cigarettes. But he stresses that smoking was al- ready an accepted prsctiee among adult males in the 19lh eentmy. '°Cigarette advertisins as such," he writes, "did not exist at the time:' Bergiefs book isn't easy to read. It cites literally hundreds of tk'udies, rank- ins it thoroughly slow going. Bergler believes, "Whether a person takes up smoking in the ~rst place is largely a question of lif~-histpry and personality." Just because a nonsmoker learns, through advertising, about ciga- rette brands does not, of course, mean that he will smoke, Bergler says. Part of the message of the book is that elgarelte advertising bans "are based on false premises and mlscon- eeptinus-and they fail to take account of our current state of scient~c knowledge." These bans are not an effective de- vice for influencing behavior, he says. He points out that in those nations where cigarette ads have been banned, this has "failed to achieve any signifi- cant and lasting reversal" in cigarette consumption. "q'here am certainly no grounds," Bcrglcr conclod~, "~or regarding ad- vertiaing as the ~ential factor which 'trivets off" cigarette smoking." ante, netting nearly $2 billion in foreign not they quit." tradein 1980. And Joseph A. Cailfano Jr., then- Smoking And Health Criticism of the Federal government for operating a tobacco program while warning citizens about the alleged haz- ards of smoking is unwarranted. In fact, as government officials have pointed out, the program keeps to- bacco leaf prices higher and domestic tobacco supplies lower than they would be without such controls. With no price Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, testified be- fore Congress in 1978:"1 do not be- lieve that anyone smokes or doesn't smoke or decides to begin or continue or stops smoking because of the to- bacco subsidy." He gave the program the wrong name. He's not alone in that. But Cali- lane's assessment was-and is- "So far as I'm concerned, the people have spoken, unless there's something I don't know. Hell, the people don't want it," said a Kern County super- visor about an attempt by California anti-smokers to have his county ap prove a smoking restriction measure. California voters have twice re- jected a statowide smoking restriction law, but proponents of the most recent statewide effort am now attempting to the work place, is a serious error with grave implications for remedial action." '°Smokers of a pack or more of niga- rettes daily had only a fourth as much colan cancer as nonsmokers," The Washington Post (1116181) ~ported on a government study of residents of Framingham, Mass. The research paper, published in the persuade individual counties to restrict Journal of the American Medical As- smoking. Bakersfield Cal(fornian Editorial 1127181 "'Given the magnitude of the prob- lem, and the dearth of current efforts to control anviranmental hazards, it is an affront to pose smoking cossation as an answer to our current occupational disease epidemic," writes a Maryland union official, David Wilson, in a letter to ~he American Journal of Public Health (I]81). An cadier editorial in that journal had urged work place smoking restric- tions. Wilson wrote, "To confuse this private behavior, practiced by large ~nd varied se~aants of the popuhtioa, with the environmental coaditinm in sociation (I/16), called this a "staffs- tically significant inverse association." "Ever since the memorable day when two of Christopher Columbus' sailors reported seeing natives who 'drank smoke,' tobacco has been an inseparable part of America's history and economic progress...." 'q'his native American plant may have been a 'bewitching vegetable' in the eyes of Sir Walter Raleigh and his friends, but in terms of economic im- portance today, it is truly 'the golden Article: Focus: The Tobacco Induatry Ptr~ls: A Bank of Virginia Business Pz~blication Winter 1981 TI~ Tol~ct~ Olx,,wv~r 11 TI53181238

Top, Tan ActMst F In " "1 don't ~want to wake up some morning and find out that you can't smoke in most public places:" sa~ Paul G. Engelhardt. 1980 Distinguished Tobacco Action Network Activist of the Year. Increased voluntary membership in TAN is crucial to help avoid unwar- ranted public smoking restrictions, he believes. Eag¢lhardt, a sales representative in Florida for Lorillard, recently was hon- ored by TAN in Washington, D.C. He is the first to be chosen for what will be an annual top activist award. Engelhardt was selected from a membership that is carrently more than 38,000. DouglasSessions.TAN Florida state director, who recommended Engelhardt for the award, calls him "consistently responsive, cooperative, dependable, and enthusiastic." Says Sessions, "Paul wants to be sure the task is completed. He epito- mizes the level of concern and dedica- tion it takes to defend successfully and enhance Ihe image ofouriadustry." John D. Kelly Jr.,The Tobacco lnsti- tute's senior vice president for state ac- tivitias, stressed in presenting the award that volunteer activists such as Engul- hardt are "the backbone of the industry." Kelly explained that five TAN mem- bers in each of 31 states were named "distinguished TAN activists," whh each receiving a plaque. A top TAN volunteer was named in each of these states, receiving a framed set of to- bacco leaves. Eng¢lhardt was chosen from the state wlnners. TAN was formed to help preserve the tobacco industry, protect jobs. and defend individual freedoms, Kelly said. Candy Store Owner Engelhardt, a native of' Germany. grew up in New Jersey. He was once a Fuller Brush Co. salesman, and owned a candy store for 12 years. He and his wife. Peggy. moved to New Smyrna Beach. Fla., eight years ago. Three years ago, Engelhardt joined Lorillard as a sales representative. His territory is Florida's sunshine-blessed Atlantic coast, from Ormond Beach to Cocoa, !n_cluding famous Daytona Beach. "1 make 65 stops," he says. "'check- Jag our products at supermarkets.'" "The main idea is not to run out of a brand. Also, you rotate stock and pre- pare for special sales.'" He says he's now greeted as a celebrity at some of the stores them in Volusia County. Engelhardt was contacted by mail in June 1980 and asked to attend a TAN training seminar in Orlando. He drove 50 miles-decided he wanted to b¢ an advocate for the program-and called Sessions the next week to ask how he could contdbute. "I think all FIoddiaas who smoke should b¢ members," he says. "lt's im- portant to keep tabs on proposed new regulations." Engelhardt has enrolled 525 TAN members himself. "'! take a minute to talk to them," he says. "I find many peo- ple are tired of too much government interference." Engelhardt is persuasive. "If you took my llps away." he says, "I'd be unemployed." This was the Engelhardt's first trip to the nation's capital. "Having a candy store,open 7 a.m. to 1 t p.m. seven days a week, plus having five kids, you don't go far away," he says. He and his wife were given a VIP tourof the White House and the Capitol, including a meeting with their U.S. Senator, Paula Hawkins. "We loved it all,'" the proud TAN activist of the year says. Paul G. Engelhardt (right). the 7obacco A~ Ibm Nenrorl,'s distinguished activist for 1980. a'as nominated by DoagAa Ses.sions. TAN's Florida state director. Sessions cttrg[ully hold.~ the whmer'x t~WldtV, a ~.wnbo/ of the dedication Engel- hardt hastier Hw tobacco hub~s¢O'. "As America's trade deficit grows under a flood of lmpmted cars, elec- tronics, and other Items, on~ Ameri- can taste hll manlged to ca~ve out a leadership po~ltlon in the world market," begins an article in the Greenevllle (Term.) Sun (1/19/81). "American-blend cigarettes, fea- turing • variety of tobaccos and fla- vorings, now account for more sales than any other type of clgao re'de--about 40 percent of the esti- mated world volume el 4.4 trillion cigarettes," the aleW, datelined Wlnsfon-Salmn, N.C., says. The tobacco Industry's commit- merit to research on smoking and health now totals $91 million, an up- dated Tobacco Institute release on this topic reports (2/81). More than $64 million of the funds has bean committed by the Council for Tobacco Research, which pro- vldes financial support for rasearch by Independent =c~n4/~s k14o m~ny phases of ~ ~~ Drinking fmqulnt~ is In~ in what it to~s ~ga~-m~ ~ that cause ~a~, a~ ~ a new m~ by t~ U. S. R~ ~- tration, ~ re~ =~ ~- tlal fires in ~e~a In 19~. "Cigare~e= ~ar ~ h~ ~ of any item t~ A~n ~ buys," says an ~ ~ ~ cigare~e taxat~n f~ ~ T~ T~ Council, RIC~, Vs. "If It were not ~r ~ ~ some taxes," the ~d ~ ~ consumer wou~ pay ~ ~ = pack or ~A0 ~r ~ ~ ~ m~es." A ~n of ~ ~ clgareRes can coat as ~gh ~ ~ the Tax ~uncil sa~. IN THIS ISSUE OF ff1 ec'Jb-bacco • Women Farmers Win Respect (Page 6) • '~here Is No Tobacco Subsidy" (Page 11) o Tobacco in Cartoons (Page 8) ,~ 1981 The Tobacco Observer 18751 Street, Norlhwest Washington. D. C. 20006 TI53181239