If a new Colorado amendment passes, taxes on a pack of cigarettes could go from 84 cents a pack to $2.59 a pack,reports The Denver Post.
Big tobacco is making a big push to ensure that voters reject the measure next month. Tobacco companies have pumped millions into advertising and other get-out-the-vote efforts. Altria, the parent company of tobacco giant Philip Morris, has contributed over $16 million toward defeating Amendment 72.
By contrast, proponents of the tobacco amendment have only spent $2.2 million to try and get the measure passed.
According to Ballotpedia, revenue from the measure’s passage would be distributed as follows:
18 percent to health-related programs funded by the prior tobacco taxes, 27 percent towards research on tobacco-related health issues, 16 percent to education and prevention, 14 percent to grants for veteran employment, health improvement, and homelessness prevention, 10 percent to grants for child and adolescent mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment, 10 percent towards the construction of community health centers, and 5 percent towards student loan repayment and training for healthcare professionals working in rural and underserved areas.