Tobacco Documents Online

October 30, 1978 T-Zr. . I.icnael 1;artin 40G Ja:r,aica jlay Bakersfield, CA 93309 Uuar Mr. tlartin: Thank you for thinking of us in connection with your debate. We appreciate your calling us. rirst, we want you to know that our comp.any does not approve of young p'eople smoking. }tie Lelieve that adults, however, should l)e permitted to make their own decision whether or not to smoke. We also believe thut until scientific research can establish what really causes the diseases with which smoking has Leen statistically associated, it would be unfair to advocate any law prohibiting the sale of ciga- rettes. c,e in tobacco regard ours as an honorable trade, bringing to people everp,ihere the simple pleasure of a product that has a long and re- spcctable history behind it. Tobacco was the first business enter- prise in ArAerica--begun soon after the settlement of Jamestown in 1607--and has contributed materially to the nation's growth and welfare since. Tobacco is grown on around 400,000 farms. In 1977 American farmers received more than $2.33 billion for their tobacco crops. These farm receipts made tobacco the fifth largest cash crop harvested in the United States. Three levels of govcrmnent tax tobacco products. These taxes presently amount to over $6 billion annually. More than $2.3 billion in tobacco tarx revenue goes into the Federal Trea- sury and the balance to state and local governments. You can i.magine what it would i;:ean to the national economy if tobacco revenues were cut off. Front these and other facts set out in the enclosed publica- tion entitled "To!:acco Industry Profile--1978," you can see how impor- tantly tobacco contributes not only to our own nation's economy but also toward our country's balance of trade with other nations of the world. ~

Mr. Michael Martin Page 2 October 30, 1978 I hope that these comments, and the materials enclosed, will be helpful. Good wishes from all of us at R. J. Reynolds. Sincerely, T. K. Cahill Public Relations Department ThC:ak Enclosures