Bid to Raise Cigarette Tax to Treat Prostate Cancer Defeated

A bill increasing the state cigarette tax by two cents a pack to raise $37 million annually for prostrate cancer research and treatment was rejected Monday by the Assembly.

The bill was defeated on a 49-26 vote, five short of the two-thirds majority of 54 votes needed for passage. Its sponsor, Assemblyman Stan Statham (R-Oak Run), said he will seek reconsideration at a later date. There was no debate.

The Legislature last year approved, and Gov. Pete Wilson signed into law, a bill increasing the cigarette tax by two cents a package to raise funds for breast cancer research and treatment.

But 1994 is an election year and lower house Republican lawmakers appeared reluctant to approve a tax increase. Forty-five Democrats and five Republicans voted for the bill. All votes against it were lodged by Republicans.

Under Statham’s bill, the state cigarette tax would have climbed to 39 cents a pack. A pack of cigarettes sells for about $2.00.

Half of the tax hike would have gone for prostate cancer research and half for treatment. This year, the state is to receive $51 million from the federal government for prostate cancer research.

In his opening remarks, Statham told his colleagues: “Gentlemen, you have a chance to save your own life. Women live in fear of breast cancer. Men should live in fear of prostate cancer.”

He added that there is growing medical evidence showing a possible link between smoking and prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in California, and is the second-highest killer of men in the state behind lung cancer, Statham said.

The disease increased 58.9% in California during the three-year period between 1988-1991, according to the American Cancer Society. In 1991, it exceeded breast cancer for the first time as the most frequent type of cancer in California.