A tobacco tax to save lives
Big Tobacco is at it again. Its new TV spot against Proposition 29, a $1-a-pack cigarette tax, has served notice that the industry won’t be playing fair in its big-money attempt to derail the plan to raise an estimated $735 million a year for cancer research, antismoking programs and enforcement of tobacco laws.
“Not one penny goes to new funding for cancer treatment,” said the doctor in the No on 29 ad. Dressed in a white smock in an examination room, the doctor claimed the measure would create a “huge research bureaucracy” that could send “our tax dollars” to other states.
It’s amazing how many deceptions can be packed into 30 seconds. For starters, the implication that physicians oppose Prop. 29 drew immediate repudiation from the president of the California Medical Association, who urged voters to “see past the smokescreen of Big Tobacco.”
The argument about no new funding for cancer treatment is an equally disingenuous half-truth. Sixty percent of the revenue from the new tax — about $441 million a year — is designated for cancer research.
The ad’s concern about money headed for out-of-state research is almost laughable considering that one of the No on 29 campaign’s other arguments is that the nine-member board that will be distributing the funds will be weighted with directors of California cancer centers and UC chancellors who might be tempted to fund each other’s programs. Besides, Section 2 of the act expressly states that its purpose is to fund research “in California.”
As for the “huge research bureaucracy” claim, the measure explicitly caps administration costs at 2 percent.
California, once a leader in reducing tobacco use, is now 33rd in state tobacco taxes at 87 cents. Research has shown conclusively that price is one of the biggest factors in deterring young people from smoking. Our Legislature has shown no willingness to take on Big Tobacco, which has co-opted enough allies to reject any new tax measure.
Prop. 29 is a well-crafted measure that will save lives. Voters should approve it.