The Request to Increase the Price of Cigarettes Will be Decided on Ballot Measure in Colorado

A constitutional amendment will increase more than three times the taxes on a pack of cigarettes.

The Secretary of State’s Office said that a proposed constitutional amendment will be on this year’s general election ballot and would increase more than three times the taxes on a pack of cigarettes in Colorado.

The initiative apparently has more than the needed 98,492 authentic signatures from enrolled voters to qualify. If the initiative passes in November, the tax will increase from 84 cents to $2.59 per pack starting January. Taxes on cigars and chewing tobacco would increase by 22 percent.

Moreover, the measure will move Colorado near the high end of tobacco taxes. Colorado ranks 38th in the nation for tobacco taxes and will move to 11th. Proponents turned in 161,412 petitions on the 8th of August.

The Campaign for a Healthy Colorado, an alliance of health groups and specialists, believes that its initiative would generate $315 million next year for existing tobacco prevention and suspension programs. According to the independent Colorado Fiscal Institute, the state obtained $165 million in cigarette taxes in 2013.

Chris Stille, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Colorado, assumes that this is an exceptional measure that will save lives. It could also create healthier environments for future generations and avoid getting more kids addicted to tobacco related products.

With the revenue generated by the tax, medical research into cancer and other diseases could be properly conducted. Moreover, smoking cessation programs could be expanded, or the much-needed medical and mental health care for veterans could be attended.

It could be a significant advance in health care plans and medical investigation to access youth behavioral health services or student-loan payment programs for specialists in rural areas.

David C. Goff Jr., board president of the Denver chapter of the American Heart Association and dean of the Colorado School of Public Health, states that this is the best measure they can take to improve health in Colorado.

Four other bills have suited for the ballot through citizen petitions: medical aid in dying, an increase in the state’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020, the ColoradoCare single-payer health care measure and a change in rules to amend the Colorado Constitution.

Image source: Public Domain

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Roxanne Briean

I am a geek, a gamer and a writer. I have always been fascinated with the online community. At the moment I work as a full-time writer and study interior design. When I'm not scouring the net in search of interesting new gadgets and software I spend my time in MOBAs or drawing.