Bill Mifsud: “Yes. The amount of people with lung cancer and other related problems in America are attributed to smoking – this is a necessary tax. This tax may curtail smoking too.”
Richard Place: “I wonder why they want to tax you for committing a slow death yet won’t allow assisted right to die programs. Maybe they haven’t figured out a new death tax yet. To me it’s just another government tax scam.”
Louise Ledesma: “Yes I support Prop 29 for the cigarette tax increase. The state tax now is only 87 cents, while the national average is $1.46. James Knox, lobbyist for the American Cancer Association, states, “Every 10% increase in the cigarette price results in a 4% decrease in adult usage and 7% decrease in youth consumption. Our projections are that Prop. 29 would induce more than 100,000 adults to quit and prevent 220,000 kids from starting.” This is the best reason for voting for the increase tax. In CA High schoolers have a higher smoking rate than adults (14% vs. 12%).”
Marty Richman: “No, this is another special interest tax in disguise; the money goes to the sponsors. The GAO said nationwide less than 7 percent of the billions in tobacco settlement funds went to anti-smoking programs.”
Ruth Erickson: “It seems that if we vote Yes on 29, the tax on cigarettes will be increased, to help fund cancer research and smoking cessation programs, with positive endorsements from the medical fields. The tobacco companies want us to vote No on 29, after spending more than $40 million to persuade that vote. Of course they want to sell more tobacco products without a tax increase, which could negatively affect sales! If there is a guarantee that the tax increase will go toward cancer research, then a Yes on 29 sounds more healthy than no!”
Jim West: “No. Do we need more research on the harmful effects of smoking? Can we mount a more effective anti-smoking campaign? Come on, this is just an excuse for taxing something we don’t like.”
Nants Foley: “I think the tax money would be more effective used to research and curtail the tobacco lobbyists.”
