Tobacco and the Economy

Many people work for tobacco companies. Some of these people live in the United States. They have many different jobs. Some of these people are farmers who grow tobacco. Some of them work inside tobacco factories. Others sell tobacco in stores.

For years, tobacco farmers have been losing their jobs. This is because tobacco companies buy less expensive tobacco from other countries. When this happens, the government buys the "extra" tobacco from the U.S. farmers and sells it at a reduced rate. Tobacco companies also open factories in other countries. When they do this, some U.S. factory workers lose their jobs. In 1993, there were 42,900 people employed in the U.S. by the tobacco manufacturing industry.

Markets

Every day, 1,200 people die from smoking. Therefore, tobacco companies must find new smokers to buy cigarettes. If they do, they keep making money. Cigarette companies look for groups of people who do not smoke, or who have the potential to increase their smoking numbers. Often, the companies target specific groups of people, called minorities. Minorities can be racial, religious, political, national, or other groups regarded as different from the larger group of which they are a part. In the U.S., women and children are considered minorities. Tobacco companies use different ways to try to get specific groups to smoke. For example, in the past they have used cartoons to get children to smoke. These children often grow up to be adult smokers.

Tax and Medical Costs of Tobacco

The government puts a tax on each pack of cigarettes. That means when people buy cigarettes, the government gets money. Tax money can be used for many things. However, smoking causes people to get sick. Although the government uses some of the money to pay for doctors and hospitals, the amount is not enough to pay the medical cost of sick smokers. The government must use other tax money to pay the cost of health care. Do you think this is fair?