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I have included a short bullet list of why I am supporting Yes on 29. This is what I try to quickly tell people when I start talking about Prop 29. Almost everyone has seen the television ads paid for by Big Tobacco. You will see more, gear up for it. They just spent another $20 million in tv ads to defeat it (filled with lies and loopholes).

1. The money does stay in California (section 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 in the initiative text, read here)
2. You will not ever be affected by the tax unless you buy a pack of cigarettes (contrary to what Howard Jarvis, President of the California Taxpayer Association would lead you to believe. Sidenote: he is a smoker himself)
3. The additional money ($735 million/year) made from Prop 29 does go directly to cancer research. The entire ballot initiative states this repeatedly, read the prop for yourself.
4. Tobacco related illnesses kills more people than HIV, drugs, murder, car crashes COMBINED.
5. You pay $613/year in health care costs for tobacco related illnesses. It is time smokers started to pay for that themselves.
6. California has not raised taxes on cigarettes in the past decade. It is one of three states that has the lowest tax on cigarettes in the country.
7. The California Medical Association, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, Livestrong, Tobacco Free Kids, California State Board of Education, Superintendent over California Schools, California PTA and more all support Yes on 29. (Look at the companies that support No on 29...gah! Big Tobacco and convenience stores like 7-Eleven and AM/PM, the largest retailers of cigarettes.)

I can't do this on my own. None of us can. Big Tobacco is too big. And too rich. It needs to be done by all of us. By the people, in the most grassroots type of way. Social media is our only tool to spread it faster than television ads. Please do this!