LIVESTRONG Blog

LIVESTRONG Leaders Vote YES on Prop 29

Apr 11, 2012 by Brooke McMillan
3 Comments

At the LIVESTRONG Assembly in March, LIVESTRONG Leaders from all over the world came to Austin to learn how they can best help cancer survivors in their communities and support LIVESTRONG‘s efforts on the ground. California’s LIVESTRONG Leaders have a huge opportunity this year to show their support by voting YES on Prop 29.

Prop 29, otherwise known as the California Cancer Research Act, is a qualified ballot initiative that will be placed before voters in June 2012. Through a $1 per-pack tax on cigarettes, Prop 29 will deliver over $700 million every year for cancer research and to keeps kids from smoking. Listen to our awesome LIVESTRONG Leaders in Cali talk about why they are voting YES on prop 29 this June and why you should too. Stay up to date on Prop 29 on our website www.livestrong.org/yeson29

Paid for by Yes on 29 – Californians for a Cure, Sponsored by the American Cancer Society California Division, Inc., American Lung Association in California, American Heart Association and Cancer Research Doctors. Major funding by Lance Armstrong Foundation and American Cancer Society California Division, Inc.

http://twitter.com/heatherswifty Heather Swift

Great job putting this together! You ROCK!
http://www.facebook.com/badgerwarfare Carl Wyble

Please dont delete this post simply because I disagree. That would be totally bogus. Im not gonna argue, Im just gonna point out why this legislation is wrong.

First of all, yes, I am a smoker. Lets get that out of the way. I smoke because I choose to, not because Big Tobacco says to.

Now, tobacco products are already taxed at more than 10 times the rate of sales tax, plus sales tax. This is already unfair. Product is product, and targeting one group of ADDICTED consumers is wrong. As far as the government is concerned, every other addict, be the addiction to alcohol, narcotics, or porn, is treated as a disabled person. An alcoholic can even get disability benefits because of it! And yet tobacco consumers are being preyed upon by the state?

And since when has extra taxes ever helped anything? If anything, it gives the state a projection by which they borrow and get into debt, and then when a tax like this pushes consumers away and the state doesn’t meet its own projections we are in even more debt than before.

Like I said, Im not trying to be nasty and argumentative, I’m just saying, the people who wrote this are politicians. Their job is to make it sound better than it is. Please, even if you do choose to vote yes, do some research first. Look at the fine print. Consider why other people are concerned. Please.
- http://blog.livestrong.org Brooke McMillan
  
  Tobacco use causes hundreds of thousands of deaths yearly and costs the state millions in direct and indirect costs for everything from health care to loss of work productivity. 90% of all smokers start before age 18 and increasing taxes will keep kids from picking up the habit. The great thing about Prop 29 is that a portion will go to fund smoking cessation programs, so those that WANT to quit will have a better chance of sticking with their decision. Tobacco is addictive. It is dangerous. It causes cancer. That is why Prop 29 is imperative to the health of Californians.

LIVESTRONG Leaders Vote YES on Prop 29

Apr 11, 2012 by Brooke McMillan3 Comments

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Apr 11, 2012 by Brooke McMillan
3 Comments