Lung Health News, Fall 2005 / Winter 2006
The American Lung Association of California is preparing for another fight with Big Tobacco as it gears up for a statewide campaign to raise the tobacco tax here in California. Under the banner of the Coalition for a Healthy California, which includes the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Lung Association is working in communities across the state to gather signatures to secure a spot on the November 2006 ballot. The tobacco tax increase would provide additional dollars for the state’s successful tobacco prevention and control program as well as fund new disease prevention, treatment and research efforts, including a community and school-based asthma program.The association was instrumental in the passage of the Proposition 99 tobacco tax initiative in 1988. Anti-tobacco campaigns and community projects funded through the initiative have resulted in the second lowest statewide smoking rate in the country.
