With the assistance of an executive search firm, the committee would create a list of potential appointees that would be forwarded to the Attorney General. The AG would pick from the list and appoint the board members. After this initial selection process the board would be self-perpetuating. On common measures of health such as death rate from heart disease and cancer, the incidence of TB, and the number of people uninsured, the top ten tobacco producing counties in North Carolina generally do much worse than the state average. While many rural counties experience the same or even worse problems, these numbers show the great need these communities have for better health care and assistance.
Most tobacco grown in NC is used to make domestic cigarettes.
If the tobacco settlement reduces US demand for cigarettes, then farmers will have to find a way to sell more tobacco overseas. However, the tobacco quota price support system makes it hard for NC tobacco to compete in the world market. The quota system is a product of the Great Depression and is a way to stabilize tobacco prices. The quotas can be bought, sold and inherited and because of this most quota holders do not actually grow any tobacco. The bottom line is that anticipated drops in US use of tobacco as a result of the tobacco settlement will hurt NC farmers and they need to be compensated through the settlement for tobacco growers and quota holders.