One of the hot political topics of the day is the fed’s recent activities regarding tobacco. Tobacco, one of the North Carolina’s most fervent industries, may be even harder hit than in recent years. Cigarettes just received the greatest tax increase the tobacco’s history has ever seen – almost $.62 in one fatal swoop. The smoking cessation business has picked up, to say the least.

In addition, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will soon be regulating tobacco products.. Some targeted changes will be how tobacco is marketed, a harder push to deter young people from smoking and regulation over new tobacco products. Although the FDA will not be able to ban the use of nicotine in cigarettes, it will be able to regulate the amount of nicotine introduced into new tobacco products.

And if all that was not a big enough blow, two new laws were proposed to state legislators, one of which was already passed. In May, the governor approved a smoking ban in restaurants and bars. This will further impact the tobacco industry and maybe even hurt patronage at bars, in particular. Now, however, she wants to impose a $1.00 tax on cigarettes; although, very few in state government support her proposal. Needless to say, tobacco producers and workers are upset over the whole thing.

What will all this mean for North Carolina, the country’s most prolific producer of tobacco? Restrains will be made on new products and advertising, and there will be a greater push to keep young people from lighting up to begin with. Historically, these type of restrictions lowered tobacco sales, which result in the loss of jobs and state and local revenue.

It’s been a lucrative run, but this just may be the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back.” My question is how will these impacts to the tobacco industry effect other industries like real estate?