But this has always been about the money – if governments were really concerned about tobacco and health they would simply have banned tobacco products.
With California voters poised to vote next week on a tobacco tax hike, a new federal study concludes that the state has used relatively little of the billions of dollars in tobacco money it already takes in to prevent kids from smoking or to help smokers quit.
Between 1998 and 2010, just 6 percent of the money collected from a massive lawsuit settlement and from cigarette taxes went to tobacco interdiction and education programs, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week, far below federal spending guidelines for effectively curbing tobacco use.
The report has provided fuel for both sides of the pitched debate over a June 5 ballot measure that would more than double the state tax on a pack of cigarettes. The money would pay for tobacco-related disease research and anti-smoking programs and go to fight illicit tobacco sales.
Is anyone surprised by this? The tobacco suit was nothing more than a legal scam aimed at getting money from industry so our dear leaders could squander it on any pet project that came along.
So why would they seriously try to stop people from smoking when it generates so much revenue for the state?
Its all been a money grab,first smoking now they trial lawyers are after the restaraunts for making folks fat along with the food manufacturers……..its a lawsuit model and wait til the billions start rolling in from ronald mcdonald. Its why all these corporations have submitted to the owebummer folks so easily. Their afraid of IRS and other things the Owebummer administration will do if they dont submit!