COSTS: California Tobacco Control Program Saves Money -- and Lives

Joanne Kenen — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:05:00 -0400

You hear a lot these days about all the miles Americans aren't driving because of $4 gas. How about all the cigarettes they aren't smoking because of some sensible anti-smoking investments? And the money saved on health care (not to mention the improved health of ex-smokers). New research finds that California's anti-tobacco program has yielded a 50-to-1 return and prevented 3.6 billion--yes, billion with a "b"--packs of cigarettes from being smoked in 15 years.

The report in the Aug. 25 issue of PLoS Medicine by a University of California, San Francisco team found that between 1989 and 2004 the $1.8 billion program saved $86 billion (in inflation-adjusted 2004 dollars).

"The benefits of the program accrued very quickly and are very large," senior author Stanton Glantz, director of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, was quoted as saying. The California program showed rapid health care costs savings because it was directed at adults, not youths, so the impact on heart and lung disease, even cancer, could be seen.

These savings occurred despite a substantial diversion of funding during the mid-1990s. In fact, the researchers estimated, if the funding had been maintained at the same intensity as it had in the program's early years, the savings would have nearly doubled to $156 billion.

Hat tip to Health News Daily for bringing this research to our attention, and if you want details of California's approach, click here...

Wednesday Round Up: The Last Utah Land Use Referendum; Putin and Arnold

Joe Mathews — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:14:00 -0400

UTAH FIGHT OVER POWER OF REFERENDUM, INITIATIVVE: A new Utah law, which goes into effect next month, would prevent local voters from making land-use decisions at the ballot. But a group in Sevier County, Utah is attempting to challenge the law -- and plans to build a coal-fired electricity plant in their community.

MORE FIXED THAN PUTIN: At an event on budget reform in Garden Grove Monday, gov. Schwarzenegger -- in answer to a question on his redistricting initiative -- talked about the lack of political compeititon. He repeated the statistic that out of 496 seats up for grabs in the last three election cycles in California, only four changed party hands. "Think about that," he said. "That's a fixed system. We always laugh at Putin in Russia when he has his elections. We say, 'This is ridiculous, it's fixed.' Ours is more fixed, I can guarantee you that. It is crazy." More fixed than Putin? Hard to judge. But on turnover, the governor has got a point, as seats in the Duma have changed party hands -- in large part because of Putin's strong-arming -- more often than California legislative and Congressional seats.

ARIZONA ANGLES: The Arizona legislature is attempting to head off two ballot initiatives that would crack down on employers who hire unauthorized immigrants (Unauthorized is the most accurate term, according to your blogger, so fans of "illegal aliens" -- they're from this planet and their existence is not illegal -- or "the undocumented" -- they tend to have documents -- will have to live with it). Their solution: legislation that would modify the employer sanctions law. But the governor has vetoed it and sponsors of the initiatives say they're going forward.

IMMIGRANT VOTERS AND THEIR CHILDREN will constitute one-third of all California voters by 2012, according to a study from a Bay Area immigrant support group. Here's a report on the study in the LA Times.

COMMON SENSE TAX REFORM: Missed this before, but it's worth taking a look: Mark Paul, a New America colleague, explains the history of the California tax system, and outlines some principles for the kind of tax reform the state needs.

TOBACCO TAX PUSHBACK: A blogger at the web site of The Century Foundation, a progressive group, takes a look at efforts by the tobacco industry to fight ballot measures that seek to pay for health programs with higher tobacco taxes.

WILL THE PERIPHERAL CANAL RISE AGAIN? Old California hands in the ballot measure biz love to tell stories about the 1982 campaign in which voters turned down the Peripheral Canal. The idea is to build a canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which has so many troubles that there are understandable worries about the water supply. But an Assembly committee has put legislation to revive it on hold.

Tobacco Industry

COSTS: California Tobacco Control Program Saves Money -- and Lives

Wednesday Round Up: The Last Utah Land Use Referendum; Putin and Arnold