San Diego Unified Board Backs Cig Tax

During their meeting on May 2, San Diego Unified School District boardmembers endorsed Prop 29, which, if passed, will tax cigarettes an additional one dollar per pack.

The board’s endorsement of the so-called California Cancer Research Act came in the wake of District B representative Kevin Beiser finding out that his mother “was just diagnosed with lung cancer last month, [and Tuesday] she goes in for another day of chemotherapy.” Beiser, who led the charge to endorse the proposition, was joined by boardmembers who have faced cancer-related deaths in their families.

The board's resolution comes at a time when the smoking rate among California high school students is estimated at more than 3.4 million current smokers, according to tobaccofreekids.org.

Beiser noted that Prop 29 would not only bring in revenue for school-based programs to reduce youth smoking, but would also provide millions of dollars for cancer research.