SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- Last week the Governor of Hawai'i signed a bill passed by the Hawai'i State Legislature to increase that state's cigarette tax to $2.60 per pack as of July 1. This became the ninety first time a state has raised its tobacco tax since the last time the tax was increased in California back in 1998. That increase was enacted by the voters through passage of the 50 cent tobacco tax increase (Proposition 10) to fund early childhood education. The California State Legislature has not passed a tobacco tax increase since 1993 when it approved a 2-cent increase to fund breast cancer research and early detection.
The Hawai'i legislation also includes additional 20 cent increases in July 2010 and July 2011 to bring the tax up to $3.00 per pack. The Rhode Island increase last month made that state's tax the highest in the nation at $3.46. Twelve states and the District of Columbia have rates of at least $2.00 per pack. The national average is now $1.24 per pack. At $0.87 per pack, California's cigarette tax now rates 31st in the nation. California is one of only 6 states that have not increased its tobacco tax in the past 10 years.
The California State Legislature has the opportunity to begin to catch up with the rest of the nation through passage of SB 600 (Padilla). This bill to increase the tax by $1.50 per pack is co-sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association. The measure would direct 85 percent of the revenue to the State General Fund and 15 percent to tobacco prevention and control and lung cancer research.
Smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable death in California. Increasing the tobacco tax has consistently been found to be an effective means to reduce smoking, especially among youth. Studies show that every 10 percent increase in price reduces overall consumption by 3-4 percent and youth smoking by 7 percent. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the $1.50 increase of SB 600 would prevent 361,100 kids from becoming smokers, save 165,600 Californians from premature deaths caused by smoking and save $8.1 billion in long term healthcare costs.
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CONTACT: Jim Knox, 916-448-0500, jim.knox@cancer.org
Media Contact: See above.
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