I don't advocate smoking. I grow tobacco.'' About 1,500 bureau members were expected to attend the three-day convention on Jekyll Island. It is yet another example of government over-regulation of Georgia's farms. Farmers also accepted caps, bumper stickers and lapel badges supporting their stance. More than 900 caps had been handed out by the end of the gathering's first day.
Tobacco is an important crop for Georgia.
Only cotton and peanuts produce more revenue. Tobacco is responsible for nearly 60,000 jobs in the state and yields the highest value per acre of any crop in Georgia. The FDA has determined it can regulate tobacco because nicotine is a drug and cigarettes are nicotine delivery systems. That stance worries Lawton Matthews, a Colquitt County tobacco farmer. To lower nicotine content, farmers would have to grow a blander plant, like that grown abroad, he said.