Proposition 56 is on the ballot in November

There are going to be a lot of items on the ballot in November, and you might start hearing ads about Prop 56. I’ve only heard the ones against it, and they make me spit-take. Because when I listen closely, I hear “Paid for by [INSERT BIG TOBACCO COMPANY HERE].”

I learned about Proposition 56 from my colleague at BlogHer in Los Angeles. The proposition, if passed, will add a $2 tax to each pack of cigarettes, and also add taxes to e-cigarettes, which are marketed increasingly more to children. A gateway delivery of nicotine to make them future smokers, perhaps?

Far from being funded by the very-rich tobacco lobby, Proposition 56 is supported by communities who care about healthy kids. Here is their biggest ad so far:

Here are more facts about Proposition 56:

• Prop 56 will increase CA’s tobacco tax by $2 per pack and place an equivalent increase on other tobacco products containing nicotine, including electronic cigarettes.
• Raising the tax on tobacco products is an especially effective way to keep kids from smoking, according to the US Surgeon General. And California’s tobacco tax is among the lowest in the nation.
• The revenue generated from this tax will go to Medi-Cal (health care for low income Californians including 1/3 of the state’s populations and HALF of all CA kids), smoking prevention programs, research into tobacco-related diseases, and law enforcement.
• Tobacco is still a major problem in California: it kills 40,000 Californians each year and costs taxpayers $3.5 Billion JUST in Medi-Cal spending.
• Tobacco is still targeting our kids: Each year, 16,800 California kids start smoking – 1/3rd of whom will eventually die from tobacco-related diseases.
• Now kids are getting hooked on nicotine with electronic cigarettes. A recent CDC survey showed that 20% of California high school kids have used electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days and 40% have experimented with them.

Learn more at YesOn56.org