The American Cancer Society wants to circulate statewide petitions putting an 80 cent tobacco tax increase into the constitution. The secretary of state has to approve the effort before signatures can be gathered. The new tax would be per pack of cigarettes with an equivalent hike on other tobacco products.
The cancer society wants half the money to be used to education public school students against smoking. Thirty percent would go for education efforts in colleges and universities. The rest would be spent on tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
