Tobacco growers' knowledge of revenue distribution and foreign prices: implications for health education

This study examined tobacco growers' knowledge of tobacco economics, partic ularly their knowledge of how tobacco revenue is distributed and their know ledge of the price of foreign tobacco. Tobacco growers (n = 1236) from 14 t obacco-dependent counties in North Carolina were interviewed by telephone a nd asked to estimate how much of a hypothetical $2.00 for a pack of cigaret tes is received by each of four market segments: tobacco growers, retailers , government and manufacturers. Respondents were also asked to estimate the price of foreign raw tobacco. USDA data were used to assess the accuracy o f the respondents' estimates. Respondents were within the 'correct' range a s follows: growers 31%, retailers 15%, government 23%, manufacturers 43% an d foreign prices 25%, Knowledge was positively related to education and far m size for the growers' share and foreign tobacco prices. Knowledge of the government's and manufacturers' shares was positively associated with young er age. North Carolina growers lacked knowledge of the distribution of the tobacco dollar. This may influence the positions that growers take on healt h policy and provide significant opportunities for health educators to beco me involved in grassroots efforts to educate growers.