ABSTRACT
Tobacco production creates a particularly difficult dilemma for development. Tobacco is the most profitable crop for some regions, and from small family plots. Tobacco taxes are also a source of revenue to most governments. The health hazards of tobacco wore contended almost from its first use and suspicion grew thereafter. In the United States alone, tobacco causes more deaths than any other substance-and greatly more then those caused by auto accidents and excessive alcohol consumption. Although cigarette consumption represents dependence, the tobacco industry invests in major campaigns to manipulate women towards association of cigarette smoking with independence, emancipation, and freedom. Many developing countries lack, well-established vital statistics systems, making it difficult, if not impossible, to detect tobacco-related increases in mortality. Tobacco requires either fertile soils or regular inputs of commercial fertilizer. On a global scale, the fuelwood requirements for producing flue-cured tobacco contribute substantially to the serious and growing problem of deforestation in developing countries.
