Opinion: One more reason to hike California’s tobacco tax: Cigarettes really are cancer sticks
Proposition 56, the $2-a-pack tobacco tax on the Nov. 8 statewide ballot, is polling well. But if folks need another reason to support it, consider this: Nearly 3 out of every 10 cancer deaths in the U.S. can be blamed on cigarette smoking, researchers say.
According to a report published last week by the Journal of American Medical Assn., 28.8% of all cancer deaths in 2014 — representing at least 167,133 people — were related to smoking cigarettes. More than a third of those deaths occurred in California — 57,547.
It’s not that we’re an excessively smoky state. In fact, California has the lowest rate of smoking than any other state except Utah, where Mormons who eschew tobacco use are in the majority. It’s because there are simply more people here than in any other state.
Still, there’s room for improvement. And that’s where Proposition 56 comes into play. It would raise the state’s relatively low tobacco excise tax of 87 cents to $2 for every pack of cigarettes. Experts say that tobacco taxes are one of the most effective tools for reducing smoking. It’s not terribly mysterious why that may be; if cigarettes are expensive enough, people will cut back or quit. As a bonus, some of the Proposition 56 money will be used to research smoking-related diseases and tobacco-control and prevention efforts.
The tobacco industry knows that sin taxes work to reduce smoking, too. It has spent about $71 million so far to defeat the measure — the most ever spent to fight a tobacco tax increase in the state. If the proposition passes, and it should, then one day soon, California may challenge Utah for last place in the smoking rate competition. That’s something to root for.
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