Column: Vote "Yes" on Prop 29 to Save Lives

I am writing to urge all California voters to VOTE YES on Proposition 29 on June 5. Join me in support of the California Cancer Research Act to save lives, save money and protect kids from the health risks of tobacco. 

The YES on Proposition 29 campaign is backed by the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Stand Up to Cancer, and The Lance Armstrong Foundation. 

Monday night, the  voted unanimously to endorse Proposition 29. , a registered nurse, introduced the legislation and mentioned that Albany has been a leader in the efforts to and protect the public health.  

I want to thank Councilman Lieber for his leadership in this area and appreciate the Council taking this position on this important and life-saving bill. I also want to thank Paul Cummings who came and spoke on behalf of the bill, an Albany resident and County of Alameda employee who works in tobacco control.

Proposition 29 will add a $1 tax to the price of a pack of cigarettes. This new $1 tobacco tax - paid only by those who purchase tobacco-products - is projected to save 104,000 lives, stop 228,000 kids from smoking and generate nearly $600 million every year to support life-saving advances in prevention, detection, and treatment of cancers, heart disease and other smoking-related illnesses. 

Nationwide, California’s tax on tobacco is one of the lowest, just 87 cents per pack.

Here are three reasons why I plan to vote YES on Proposition 29:

1) Prop 29 will fund life-saving research: Despite advances in treatment and prevention, nearly one out of two Californians born today will get cancer some time in their life. Cancer and heart disease kill more people in California than any other cause of death. Medical experts—from the U.S. Surgeon General to your local doctor—are unequivocal: tobacco leads directly heart disease, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

2) Proposition 29 is good for California's economy: Smoking hits every Californian in the pocket, whether you smoke or not. While Big Tobacco is pocketing billions in profit every year, California taxpayers are left to foot the bill:

Smoking-Caused Monetary Costs in California:

• Annual healthcare costs in California directly caused by smoking: $9.1 billion
• Portion covered by the state Medicaid/MediCal program: $2.9 billion
• State and federal tax burden from smoking-caused expenditures: $612 per household
• Smoking-caused productivity losses in California: $8.54 billion
• Currently California tax per pack of cigarettes is 87 cents; smoking-caused cost per pack of cigarettes in California: $15.10

Proposition 29 will save money and create jobs:

• Save at least $5.1 billion in long-term health costs from the resulting decline in smoking
• Keep $804 million from leaving California's economy for the tobacco industry's pockets
• Create 12,000 new jobs and about $1.9 billion of new economic activity in California

Proposition 29 provides Important Taxpayer Safeguards and Strict Financial Accountability

The Act states explicitly that Prop 29 revenue “shall be used solely for the purposes of this Act and shall not be subject to appropriation, reversion or transfer by the Legislature, the Governor or the Director of finance for any other purpose." The new funds will be administered by California's leading doctors, scientists and researchers.

3) Prop 29 will protect California's kids. The tobacco industry is still recruiting new customers: our kids. Over the last decade, Big Tobacco spent 10 times as much marketing tobacco in California as the state spent on tobacco education.

• 78.1 million packs of cigarettes are bought or smoked by Californian kids each year;
• 88 percent of all smokers started before their 18th birthday;
• Big Tobacco spends $656 million every year targeting California with marketing designed to recruit their next generation of customers

When the price of cigarettes increases, the rate of smoking descreases, particularly among the young. Raising the cost of a pack of cigarettes $1 per pack is projected to:

• lead to more than 228,000 fewer Californian kids from becoming addicted smokers,
• avoid 22,300 smoking-affected births over the next five years.

For me, the bottom line is that taxing tobacco to save lives, prevent youth smoking and help our economy is a win for everyone in California except for the tobacco industry and undertakers.

Janna Katz
Albany, CA