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Los Angeles Daily News
December 14, 2005
By Harrison Sheppard
SACRAMENTO--Cigarettes in California would
become the most expensive in the nation under a ballot measure
proposed Tuesday by a coalition of health groups.
The measure would increase cigarette taxes
by $2.60 a pack and generate about $2.3 billion in revenue
for a range of health programs, including hospital emergency
services, children's health insurance and cancer research.
Current taxes on cigarettes in California
are 87 cents a pack, bringing the average price to about $3.95.
"It distributes the funds in a well-thought-out
and comprehensive array of health programs that will make
a frontal assault on the major diseases and causes of death
in California, maintain and expand access to health care,
and improve the health of all Californians," said Jim
Knox, vice president of the American Cancer Society, one
of the measure's sponsors.
Tobacco industry officials said the highest
state tax on cigarettes is Rhode Island's $2.46 a pack. With
the new tax, California's cigarette tax would total $3.47
per pack.
The measure - sponsors now have to submit
598,105 valid signatures to place it on the November 2006
ballot - represents a compromise between two competing proposals
that would have imposed taxes of $1 or $1.50 a pack.
Differences had mainly focused on how the
funds would be distributed, with one proposal by the hospital
industry focusing more on emergency services and the other
focusing more on health care and prevention programs.
Most tobacco companies and taxpayer groups
are expected to fight the measure.
John Singleton, communications director for
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., said the current tax costs California
smokers more than $1 billion a year.
"That's an enormous amount of money
that's coming from a relatively small portion of the population
in California," Singleton said. "And not only is
it a minority of the population, but it's a minority of the
population that tends to be low- and moderate-income."
The tobacco industry no longer has a central
trade organization - it was disbanded as part of the 1998
settlement with the various state attorneys general - so each
company will make its own decision whether to get involved
in the campaign.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is
also concerned about the proposal.
Association President Jon Coupal said higher
taxes just lead to more efforts to avoid them - such as purchasing
cigarettes online, on an Indian reservation or through the
black market.
"We think that California has sufficient
revenue to conduct the programs it needs to conduct,"
Coupal said. "A higher tax is not necessary."
The measure is backed by more than a dozen
health organizations, including the American Cancer Society,
the California Hospital Association and the Campaign for Tobacco
Free Kids.
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