But overall the use of tobacco is way down in this country. An effort to replicate those gains on a global scale is now under way. Plans call for the treaty to take effect in 2003. The effort comes none too soon. An estimated 1.1 billion people smoke worldwide, and 80 percent of them live in developing countries.
China has the world's largest population of smokers.
China's government, too, is heavily dependent on tobacco, in the form of revenue from cigarette taxes. But China is hardly alone. Tobacco provides 6 percent of Germany's annual tax revenue. Increased cigarette taxes will initially boost such revenue, but over time the tax take will drop as smoking declines. Gains in health and productivity, however, will more than make up for that.