I’m sure most of you have seen political ads on TV telling you to vote for this and not vote for that, while each has its own spin on what’s right and what’s wrong.
One of the more talked about propositions for this November’s mid-term election is Proposition 86. Many know it as the smoking proposition, which would increase the cost of a pack of cigarettes by $2.60, as well as increase the price of other tobacco-related products. The funds raised would go towards child and adult health programs and tobacco-related programs.
Before you decide, know how this proposition is going to affect society. Your decision should be more crucial than, “I don’t smoke so it’s not going to affect me.” The tax increase is estimated to raise $2.1 million for health-related programs, but most funds raised aren’t going towards tobacco programs or to help people stop smoking.
Smokers often smoke more than one pack of cigarettes a day. The $2.60 per a pack increase would put the total cost of a pack of cigarettes at around $7, raising the cost for a smoker to around $1,000 a year if they smoke only one pack a day.
If you don’t smoke, I’m sure that you know someone who does – I do. Not only do my mother and father smoke, most of my relatives smoke too. My mom and I live together in a one-bedroom apartment and we make less than $20,000 a year. An extra $1,000 would hurt our family economically, and may cause a shortage for us in food or other necessary products.
You may ask yourself, why should you care? You should care because I don’t smoke. I detest it. I wish with all my heart that my mom would stop smoking, and that this tax increase would stop her from smoking.
If you’ve known anyone who has an addiction, then you know that it doesn’t stop this way. It’s not that easy. I’m worried about the overall economic impact that Proposition 86 would have on our economy and our lower class structure that does smoke.
Don’t think that I don’t want health care programs or anti-smoking programs to be funded, because I do. I want my mom to stop, my dad to stop, and my grandpa to stop smoking. I hate watching them remove years from their lives and impact my own health when I’m around them. But I don’t think that this is the way to earn that money, by picking on a portion of the population that smokes.
I doubt that people would enjoy a tax on a racial group, so don’t hurt my mom and my dad by passing this proposition. Vote no on proposition 86.
Crystal Claussen is a junior English and journalism major.
