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Proposed Cigarrette Tax Would Help Fund Education

November 30, 2005
By: Jonathan Levin
State Capital Bureau

If a proposed tobacco tax increase is approved by voters next November it will bring with it tobacco prevention education. Jonathan Levin has more from the state Capital.

Missouri is currently last in the nation in smoking education, but a proposed constitutional amendment would change all of that.

Part of the revenue from a potential tobacco tax increase would go towards smoking prevention and cessation.

Aaron Depers from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids says the program could have an immediate impact.

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Contents: The results have been much faster than anyone expected. We've seen in Indiana in three years a reduction by a third in high school smoking. In Ohio in roughly that same period of time they've had a 45% drop in high school smoking. It's impossible to predict whether it's gonna be two years, three years, four yearse, but it's very quick

Petitions are currently circulating the state to get the amendment on the ballot.

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A proposed tobacco tax increase would bring government-funded tobacco education to Missouri. Jonathan Levin has more from Jefferson City.

If the Coalition for a Healthy Future gets their proposed tobacco tax increase on the ballot next November, part of the revenue would go towards smoking education.

Aaron Depers from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids says if we can educate the right groups, the program can save the state millions.

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Contents: You think of smoking by pregnant women who are on Medicaid and you think in nine months you can get those womens in pretty dramatic results to quit smoking. Nine months later their having a baby who's not low birth weight, not premature, no in the (hospita) at $100,000 a day.

The proposed tax increase still requires roughly 150,000 signatures before making it onto the ballot.

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Petitions are circulating the state to get a tobacco tax increase on next Novembers ballot. Part of the money raised would be spent on smoking awareness. Jonathan Levin has more from Jefferson City.

Missouri currently spends no money on tobacco awareness.

However a proposed 80 cents-a-pack increase on cigarrettes would require some of the added revenue be spent on tobacco education.

Those programs would follow the National Center for Disease Controls guidelines for educational programs.

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Contents: The intiative you're looking at has specific requirements written into it as to how these funds should be used and they very specificly say the states programs will have to follow the best practicies of the Centers for Diseases Controls prevention. These are the programs proven extremely effective in other states.

The CDC estimates it costs a state about $31 million to implement a truly effective program, but the funds are viewed as an investment in cutting back on health costs in the future.

From the State Capital, I'm Jonathan Levin.