California's proposed cigarette tax hangs by a thread

Hannah Krakauer, reporter

A bold attempt to slap a $1 tax on each pack of cigarettes sold in California to fund cancer and other medical research seems to be heading for a narrow defeat in a state-wide ballot?-?although there is a chance that votes sent by mail could change the outcome.

The initiative, known as Proposition 29, was expected to raise $735 million in its first year. In addition, increasing the cost of smoking is one of the most effective ways of deterring young people from taking up the habit.

But the initial tally of votes, released by the California secretary of state on 6 June,?showed a narrow defeat with 50.8 per cent against the measure and 49.2 per cent in favour.?

Proposition 29's backers included cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and the American Cancer Society. But opponents?-?chiefly tobacco companies?-?spent four times more, pouring $46.8 million into the "No" campaign. ?

TV ads portraying the initiative as a huge new government bureaucracy seemed to have the desired effect. In late February, a poll suggested that 67 per cent of Californian voters backed the measure. But two weeks before the 5 June election, support had dropped to just 53 per cent.

It was a similar story in 2006, when $66 million was spent to defeat Proposition 86, which would have added a $2.60 to each pack to fund children's hospital care and anti-smoking campaigns.?

Proposition 29 would allow the money it raised to be spent on a variety of research projects. "The money in Prop 29 is for cancer and other biomedical research generally, not just cancers related to smoking," says Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco.

Given the state's budget crisis, critics including the Los Angeles Times argued that California has more pressing needs. "Funding priorities shouldn't be set at the ballot box," the paper argued, urging its readers to vote against.

"The money was never intended to solve the state's budget woes," responds David Veneziano, who heads the California division of the American Cancer Society. "We don't want to put it in the hands of politicians for general funds. We didn't write this proposition for that."

If Proposition 29 is defeated, California will remain ranked 33rd in the US for state taxes on cigarettes. At $0.87 per pack, its tax falls well below the national average of $1.45.?

julia child katy perry and russell brand katy perry divorce brock lesnar retires new years wake forest wake forest