Proposition 29 Will Save Lives and Save California Money

Joanna Morales

When Californians head to the polls June 5, they will be asked to vote on a ballot measure that adds a $1 tax increase per pack of cigarettes to raise revenue for tobacco prevention programs, stop kids from smoking and raise money for cancer research in California. Proposition 29 will generate more than $700 million a year to help people quit smoking and to support California’s medical research institutions.

Prop 29 was written by the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and American Lung Association. It is being opposed by the tobacco industry, which has already spent more than $40 million to fight this public health initiative.

California’s kids buy or smoke more than 78 million packs of cigarettes each year. Passage of Prop 29 will discourage kids from ever starting to smoke. Increasing the price of tobacco products is the most effective tool we have to protect kids from Big Tobacco’s influence. As tobacco becomes more expensive, the products are less appealing to young people.  A $1 increase in the cost of cigarettes is expected to keep 228,000 California kids from becoming addicted smokers. It will also reinvigorate California’s world renowned tobacco control program by dedicating a significant amount of the revenues to tobacco prevention and control.

In addition, Prop 29 doubles funding for programs in California to help smokers quit. When a state increases a tobacco tax, birth defects caused by smoking decline and tobacco-related illnesses and deaths are reduced significantly. Research shows that raising the price of tobacco products by just $1 in California will save more than 100,000 lives.

California’s cigarette tax is currently 87 cents, but according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, smoking costs the state more than $15 for every pack sold. The annual health care spending in California caused by tobacco use totals more than $9 billion. Overall, Prop 29 could save the state more than $80 million in health costs within five years and more than $5 billion long-term as a result of the declines in adult and youth smoking.

Prop 29 will also generate more than $500 million annually to fund medical research in California. According to a recent study from the University of California, San Francisco, the investment will create 12,000 new jobs and nearly $2 billion in new economic activity in the state.

A “Yes” vote on Prop 29 means California researchers won’t lose their funding, new cancer treatments won’t be stalled in labs and access to clinical trials will increase at cancer centers across the state. With 155 Californians dying every day from cancer, and many of those deaths linked to tobacco use, we can’t afford to ignore this issue anymore.

On June 5, please join the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association and vote “Yes” on Prop 29.

For more information please visit www.CaliforniansforaCure.org.

Joanna Morales is a Culver City Resident and an active member of the Yes on Prop 29 Campaign.