Tobacco Under Siege

Report Outline
State of Industry
History of Supports
Smoking and Health

State of Industry

Sharp Decline in 1983 Cigarette Sales

Tobacco, America's oldest cash crop, is in trouble. Never before in its long, proud history has the golden leaf been under attack from more directions or its future more uncertain. Tobacco growers and cigarette manufacturers face a constant barrage of criticism because they deal in a product believed by most scientists and physicians to cause a host of serious, often fatal, diseases. Congress recently acted to require tougher health warnings on cigarette packs and advertising. The federal government and 38 states have enacted laws limiting smoking in public places. And smoking, once considered a rite of adult passage, is becoming less acceptable socially.

Until recently, health issues and anti-smoking campaigns have had a limited impact on the tobacco industry. The percentage of Americans who smoke is declining, but until 1982 the number of cigarettes sold steadily increased. In 1983, U.S. consumption of cigarettes dropped 5 percent below 1982, representing the largest percentage decline and the greatest drop in total cigarettes smoked on record. However, the decline is attributed to higher excise taxes, not to heightened concern over health.

Nonetheless, at least one cigarette manufacturer expects the decline to continue although at a slower rate. Gerald H. Long, the president of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the country's No. 2 cigarette manufacturer, anticipates an annual domestic decline in cigarette consumption of one-half to 1 percent. “I think there will be an end point [to the cigarette business], but the end point will probably be beyond our existence,” Long told the Winston-Salem Journal.