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Vote ‘yes’ on cig tax
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California is falling short when it comes to preventing and reducing suffering and death from cancer and one of the reasons is its low tobacco tax rate.
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Fortunately, voters can change that cancer outlook by voting yes on Proposition 56 on the Nov. 8 ballot. Prop 56 will protect children by increasing California’s cigarette tax by $2 per pack, with an equivalent increase on products containing nicotine derived from tobacco including e-cigarettes, which are skyrocketing in use among local teens. And teens who use e-cigarettes are twice as likely to start smoking traditional cigarettes.
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Worried about their profits, cigarette makers are working to defeat Prop 56 and have spent $170 million in the state in the past decade to influence politicians and defeat tobacco taxes while 40,000 Californians die from their products every year. Big Tobacco’s latest lies hit the airwaves recently. California’s top schools chief Tom Torlakson was one of many who have demanded broadcasters immediately stop airing the deceptive and false ads from tobacco companies.
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Don’t believe their lies. Prop 56 will not divert a dime away from schools and will in fact raise revenues for classrooms. The Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates that Prop 56 would add approximately $20 million in revenues for comprehensive classroom-based tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
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So join me. Save lives and keep kids from starting to smoke by voting yes on Proposition 56.
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Thank you.
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Linda Roma
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Morgan Hill
Respect right to protest
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San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick has sparked a national conversation about the inequities faced by Americans of color.
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My father served in the Navy during World War Two to defend the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The First Amendment guarantees the right of free expression, which is envied by people all over the world, who are tortured and killed for their beliefs.
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The national anthem and the flag are symbols of our freedoms, but they are not the freedoms themselves.
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Let us not risk losing our freedom of expression, and by extension our right to protest and dissent, by getting too caught up in symbolism.
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Anne Rosenzweig
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Morgan Hill
