For all those who vote (everyone I hope) you should first know the facts. Prop 86 will raise the price of a pack of cigarettes by $2.60, and fiscal revenues will rise by more than $2 billion. Who gets it?
Foremost, prop 10 (nothing to do with smoking) gets back funded by about $180 per year. The remaining 53 percent (over $1 billion annually) goes to hospitals. This includes paying hospital bills for families at or below 35 percent of the federal poverty line as well as undocumented immigrants (estimated at $880 million per year).
An estimated $810 million per year goes to smoking and cancer awareness programs. It is worded poorly, but I believe this to be anti-smoking or cancer awareness TV ads, and educational programs like DARE.
Sadly, less than 4 percent of the total revenues (about $95 million per year) will go to actual research. Notice the lack of emphasis in finding a cure? Please visit www.voterguide.ss.ca.gov/props and read more. Don’t let sneaky TV ads influence you.
Tom Kuhn
Mechanical engineering senior