Minn. Governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz will visit Durham and Forsyth counties Thursday, working to drum up enthusiasm on the first day of early voting and mere weeks until election day. Anticipating his visit, local farmers and business owners in North Carolina are demanding answers from the Harris campaign on whether the Democratic ticket still supports a menthol ban they say will harm their economies and communities.
The Biden administration is considering two new regulatory changes by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — banning menthol cigarettes and mandating Very Low Nicotine (VLN) products — that could drastically change the market for combustible tobacco products in North Carolina and around the country.
“Many North Carolinians are concerned,” said Ray Starling, Our AG Future Senior Advisor and NC Chamber General Counsel in a press release. “As VP, Kamala Harris has supported a menthol ban which would eliminate thousands of jobs in North Carolina and cost the state billions in revenue. Their demand for transparency from Harris and Walz is completely valid.”
According to a study commissioned by the John Locke Foundation, Regulatory Smoke: The Economic Impacts of Proposed FDA Tobacco Regulations, the new rules could upend markets and harm tobacco farmers, consumers, and associated businesses in North Carolina.
“With its proposed very low nicotine (VLN) standard, the agency would require manufacturers to reduce the amount of nicotine in cigarettes and cigars sold in the U.S. to minimally addictive or non-addictive levels,” reads the report. “The FDA has also proposed to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes. Both of these regulations, if adopted, would have far-reaching impacts on the entire supply-chain of the tobacco industry in North Carolina, from farms to retail outlets.”
North Carolina is the top tobacco producer in the nation. As highlighted in the report, the Tar Heel State is home to 822 tobacco farms with combined revenues of $557 million and adding approximately $197 million to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP). Moreover, the industry impact balloons as businesses extend the value chain:
- Tobacco manufacturers in the state produce $36 billion of output (adding $31 billion to state GDP)
- Employing about 5,000 workers and paying them $370 million in wages
- Tobacco wholesaling in the state brings in $15.3 billion in revenue, (adding $9 billion to state GDP and 4,500 jobs)
- Retailers garnered about $5 billion from sales of tobacco products, adding $3 billion to GDP and supporting 11,000 jobs.”
Walz’s two campaign events Thursday, in Durham and Winston-Salem, are part of the Harris campaign’s strategy to target rural voters in important swing states like North Carolina. These two communities in particular have deep roots in North Carolina’s tobacco industry, as the cash crop played a critical role in developing the respective communities, cultural heritage, and powered their early growth.
As the tobacco markets have matured, even as other modern industries emerge and grow, it remains a big economic driver for the state.
A proposal to ban menthol cigarettes was previously promoted by NC Attorney General and current Democratic candidate for governor Josh Stein. In 2021, Stein called for the FDA to ban the products, saying, “they make it easier to get hooked,” and asserting the products are marketed specifically to “harm young people people of color.”
Thursday’s visit will mark the third time Walz has campaigned in North Carolina as the presidential candidates target swing states in their final blitz approaching November.
“It’s the big elephant in the room for many voters here in North Carolina,” said Rep. Jeff Zenger, R-Forsyth County, in a press release. “It would be strange for Governor Walz to visit Winston-Salem and Durham and not be transparent about the campaign’s stance on a menthol ban. How can you ask us for our vote when you’ve been silent on an issue that would impact North Carolinians the most?”