Yes on 86; Tax Tobacco, Save Lives

from "Public Policy Update", Breathe Easy news magazine, Fall 2006/Winter 2007 )

Proposition 86 offers California voters an important opportunity to reduce smoking, especially by children, and fund critical health priorities. The initiative on the ballot this November would raise the state’s tobacco tax on a pack of cigarettes by $2.60 and would provide approximately $2.1 billion annually for anti-smoking programs, disease research and treatment efforts, children’s health insurance, emergency room care and nursing education.

According to a recent analysis by the Tobacco Control Section of the California Department of Health Services, the proposed tax increase would prevent more than 700,000 children under age 17 from becoming smokers in adulthood and help 500,000 smokers quit.

The American Lung Association of California is sponsoring the initiative, along with a broad coalition of health advocates.

To learn more about the initiative, visit www.yesonprop86.org.