What The Tobacco Tax Initiative Looks Like To Poor Smokers
CALMatters looks at the claim that Prop. 56 would be paid for mostly by poor Californians.
CALmatters:
How Would The Prop. 56 Tobacco Tax Really Affect Poor Smokers?
Next month, California voters will decide whether to approve the biggest jump in cigarette taxes since the state began taxing tobacco in 1959. Prop. 56, backed by a wide coalition of public health, healthcare and union groups, would impose an additional $2 per-pack excise tax on cigarettes—raising the current state levy from 87-cents per pack for the first time in nearly two decades. The initiative would also extend tobacco taxes to the growing e-cigarette market for the first time. ... how true is the claim that the tax would mostly be paid by California's poor? (Levin, 10/1)
In other 2016 election news —
KQED:
As California Considers Marijuana Legalization, Concerns Linger Over Labeling Edible Products
Californians may soon vote to legalize recreational marijuana, which means edible products containing the drug will be more widely available and could accidentally fall into the wrong hands. Proposition 64 establishes warning labeling and packaging requirements for edible products containing marijuana. But public health advocates say the goodies, when taken out of their packaging, look just like regular candy and baked goods and could still easily be consumed by mistake or in excessive amounts. (Fine, 9/30)