The Attorney General's tobacco community foundation is under attack. Summary Two major hearings were held this week in our General Assembly on the tobacco settlement. The House had their first committee meeting on the issue and the Senate had its second public hearing. Both events were dominated by the attendance of many worried farmers. The events this week indicate a slow-down in the issue and have important implications for health.
Farmers are angry.
Their massive presence these last two weeks is a potent political force down at a General Assembly containing many rural legislators and urban legislators whose families have ties to tobacco. Health advocates need to support farmers and communities and not attack tobacco. In my view the most effective speaker for health at the public hearing was Gina Upchurch, director of a Durham pharmaceutical assistance program for older folks who have trouble paying for medications. Rather than attacking tobacco, she highlighted the help that medications give to the huge numbers of people her organization assists who are suffering from smoking-related disease and the general need for help in paying for medicine that affects so many older North Carolinians. She got plenty of applause - even from many tobacco farmers who appreciated her support and have experienced their own problems in getting needed health care.