$30 Million Tobacco Industry Campaign Fails; Proposition 10 Declared a Victory.ENCINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 1998--American Lung Associations in California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). are proud to have been part of the campaign to help pass Proposition 10. Even though health groups and other supporters of Proposition 10 were outspent out·spent adj. Completely exhausted. by five to one, the American Lung Association The American Lung Association (ALA) is a non-profit organization that "fights lung disease in all its forms, with special emphasis on asthma, tobacco control and environmental health". is pleased that the public, once again, saw through the deception deception n. the act of misleading another through intentionally false statements or fraudulent actions. (See: fraud, deceit) and lies of the tobacco industry and, instead, supported the measure that will help reduce tobacco use and its relating health costs. This is the third major defeat for the tobacco industry through California ballot initiatives in the last 10 years. The tobacco industry spent nearly $30 million to defeat Proposition 10, the California Children and Families Initiative, which will increase the tobacco tax by 50 cents per pack starting Jan. 1, 1999. California voters were subjected to misleading commercials and direct-mail brochures about Proposition 10, which were paid for by the tobacco industry to deliberately cloud the intent and structure of the public-health initiative. Increasing the price of tobacco products has proven to produce significant reduction in tobacco use. It is estimated that a 50-cent tax increase will result in a 25-percent drop in youth smoking. Since 1980, Canada has raised tobacco taxes by nearly $3 per pack and youth smoking has declined more than 60 percent. Ten years ago, California voters approved Proposition 99, a 25-cent-per-pack tax on tobacco. Since then, smoking has decreased by one third. Proposition 10 will help provide smoking cessation smoking cessation Public health Temporary or permanent halting of habitual cigarette smoking; withdrawal therapies–eg, hypnosis, psychotherapy, group counseling, exposing smokers to Pts with terminal lung CA and nicotine chewing gum are often ineffective. and education programs to the estimated 350,000 pregnant smokers seen in public- health clinics. Proposition 10 will help provide information to smoking parents about the harmful effects of secondhand smoke sec·ond·hand smoke n. Cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoke that is inhaled unintentionally by nonsmokers and may be injurious to their health if inhaled regularly over a long period. Also called passive smoke. on children. Proposition 10 allows each county to create a local commission of five to nine unsalaried volunteers, including local doctors, nurses, teachers and child-care experts, to allocate To reserve a resource such as memory or disk. See memory allocation. funds to local programs that meet the needs of families in each community. |
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