On June 5, your vote can help save a life �" and that doesn't happen very often. Proposition 29, on California's primary ballot, adds $1 to the cost of a pack of cigarettes. That dollar will fund life-saving cancer research, keep youth from smoking, and just might help us find a cure.
Written by the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and the American Heart Association, the initiative would raise $500 million every year for cancer research and tobacco cessation programs. It will also allow California to continue its historic leadership in reducing smoking, which, since 1988, has translated into a savings of over a million lives and billions of tax dollars.
So who would oppose such a worthy initiative? To no one's surprise, all the funding for the opposition campaign �" all the ads you are seeing on TV and the stuff filling your mailboxes �" is coming from Big Tobacco. They will spend tens of millions of dollars, if not more, to try and confuse you about Prop 29.
Don't buy Big Tobacco's big lies.
They say that the state cannot afford this "big tax hike" in the midst of hard economic times. Don't be fooled. The only people to pay this tax are those who purchase cigarettes. Prop 29 doesn't affect any existing programs and the money doesn't go into the general fund. In fact, Prop 29 will actually save the state money because as smoking prevalence drops the state will be spared more and more of the exorbitant costs of treating smoking-related diseases.
There are 32 states with higher cigarette taxes than California, which hasn't increased its 87-cent tax in over 10 years. More than 70 percent of smokers say they wish they didn't smoke, which explains why a majority of smokers support tobacco control measures: it makes it easier for them to quit. And unfortunately we aren't doing a good job anymore of keeping our youth from taking up the habit. According to the latest U.S. Surgeon General's report, one in five youth smoke, and the best way to get them to never start is to raise the cost of smoking.
But why should the LGBT community care so much about Prop 29? Firstly, because in our communities smoking prevalence is high, and it's even higher among our youth. LGBT young people smoke at more than double the rate of all youth. This means more cancer and tobacco-related diseases in our future. We don't want this to be the next LGBT health crisis. We can prevent cancer from dominating our communities by helping people quit and making sure our youth never start.
Our community pioneered patient advocacy and involvement when the AIDS epidemic forced us to confront its terrible implications. That, in turn, sparked greater awareness of higher rates of breast cancer among lesbian and bisexual women. And as we moved through the first years of HIV/AIDS we came to understand that HIV-positive smokers have a worse prognosis than HIV-positive non-smokers. Many immune-compromised people with HIV who no longer succumb to opportunistic infections associated with AIDS are still dying from tobacco-caused diseases. We can help stop this right now ... by voting Yes on 29.
And finally, let's be honest, we are sick of the tobacco industry using the LGBT community as an easy target. As acceptance of the LGBT community has increased, Big Tobacco has targeted us. Beginning in the early 1990s, tobacco ads have appeared in our print media and sponsorship of LGBT community organizations and events has proliferated. Under the pretense of friendship, the industry is treating us and our youth as "equals," welcoming our business as they addict us and potentially shorten our lives.
You can make a real difference in our community this June by voting Yes on 29. Let's strike a blow against Big Tobacco and let's take a stand for a healthier future for all of us. Don't believe the lies of Big Tobacco �" they don't care about us �" they only care about their profits. Join us, the National LGBT Cancer Network, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Livestrong and so many others and Vote Yes on 29.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano represents the 13th Assembly District in San Francisco.