What’s the deal with California Prop. 29? Every so often a proposition comes along that just flat out makes complete sense. Arguing against it is sort of like saying the Earth is flat.
Just such a proposition is California Prop. 29, which will be voted on on Tuesday, June 5 as part of the presidential primary ballot.
Please vote “Yes” on this important proposition.
Prop. 29 imposes a $1.00 tax on a pack of cigarettes with the money going to cancer research. A legislative analysis of Prop. 29 can be found here.
Proposition 29 is supported by the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Cancer Action Network, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Livestrong Foundation Stand Up to Cancer, the UC Regents, the Sacramento Bee and San Francisco Chronicle, among other news outlets.
Who is opposed? Largely anti-tax groups and perhaps the tobacco companies. However, their arguments are very weak.
Please vote “Yes” on Prop. 29 to generate a revenue stream from a logical source, cigarettes which are linked to lung and other cancers, for cancer research. As a cancer research to me it just makes good sense and right now cancer funding has really taken bad hits at the federal level due to the economic downturn such that grant funding rates at the National Cancer Institute are at historic lows (7%) at a time when so many millions of Americans have cancer.
I lost my husband to smoking related disease after a nearly 17 year long struggle. He started smoking at 14 and died at 59, way too young. Prop.29 will protect our kids from tobacco, many will never pick up that first cigarette. And Lori Bremner is my friend and without cancer research I would not have found her and had a chance to get to know one of the amazing people in the world. For the loose of my husband I am very sad, for having the chance to know Lori, I will always be grateful.
VOTE YES ON PROP. 29 on June 5th.
Great point regarding cancer research funding. There are many promising researchers out there who go without funding and that means it is going to take us longer to find a cure. Over 500K people will die this year from cancer. More work needs to be done and Proposition 29 can help.
Great blog. I agree with all your points. I’m alive because of cancer research, but we still lose too many people every day to that horrible disease. I’m voting Yes on 29 because it will save lives, keep kids from smoking and just may lead us to a cure for cancer.