Carolina Opinion
North Carolinians are taking another
look at tobacco
Brenda, a librarian, feels that regulating nicotine as an addictive
substance is a bad idea. "I believe it is a drug, and it is
addictive, I admit that," says Brenda, who smokes two to three 
packs of cigarettes a day. But she doesn't consider it on the
same par with cocaine, crack, or even alcohol. And she fears that
stricter controls would give cigarettes the lure of the
forbidden, making them more attractive to young people.
Jay, a senior at Carolina, also smokes, about a pack a day. But he's
in favor of regulating nicotine. "It's definitely a drug.
The fact that it hasn't been regulated for this long only shows the
lobbying power of the tobacco companies.
"I'm addicted," he says. "I couldn't quit smoking now
without it being pretty darn difficult."
Jay and Brenda's views reflect the diverse opinions North Carolinians
hold about tobacco, as revealed by the Spring 1996
Carolina Poll. When asked whether the government should regulate
nicotine as an addictive substance, 44 percent of the
respondents said they favored regulation, 46 percent opposed it,
and 11 percent had no opinion.
The poll also asked whether the state should stay with tobacco or find
crops to replace it because of health hazards. Half of the
respondents said North Carolina should find other crops, while 42
percent thought the state should stick with tobacco. Eight
percent had no opinion.
"The fifty to forty-two split indicates a deep division among
North Carolinians regarding their vision of the future of
tobacco in the state," says Beverly Wiggins, associate director
for research development at the Institute for Research in Social
Science, which helped conduct the poll. "When the same question was
asked in 1983, supporters of sticking with tobacco
outnumbered those who thought we should find other crops by almost two
to one. As support for tobacco as a crop has
declined among state residents, opinion has become more polarized."
It's unusual for opinions to change this much over time, Wiggins says,
even in national polls.
The one characteristic that predicted attitudes toward these questions
was whether the respondent smoked. Smokers were
more likely than ex-smokers or non-smokers to favor sticking with
tobacco as a crop; 59 percent of smokers, 40 percent of ex
-smokers, and 34 percent of non-smokers felt this way.
A majority of smokers, 58 percent, also opposed regulating nicotine as
a drug. But that still leaves 42 percent of smokers
supporting stricter regulations on nicotine. Jay, for example, who took
up smoking when he was 13 years old because he
thought "it looked cool."
"At thirteen, I knew cigarettes were bad for you, but that
wasn't necessarily a time when I was capable of making an informed
decision," he says. "At thirteen you feel pretty invincible."
The poll results contradict some stereotypes, Wiggins says. "I
think a lot of people sort of lump tobacco states together and say,
'Well, people in those states don't support measures that are supported
by the rest of the country because they have an
investment in tobacco.'" But since the tobacco debate involves
issues as
wide-ranging as health, the economy, and personal freedom, North
Carolinians are struggling with it like everyone else.
"There are complex reasons why people smoke, some of them
psychological," Brenda says. "It's a personal choice. All of
us have some vices. This is one of mine, I'm afraid."
-- Angela Spivey
This Carolina Poll was conducted February 1822, 1996 by the
UNC-CH School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the
Institute for Research in Social Science. Telephone interviews were
conducted with a random sample of 662 adult North Carolinians. The
sampling error is plus or minus 4 percent for the total sample but is
larger for comparisons between groups. Totals may not equal 100 percent
because of rounding.
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