California Proposition 99 (1988)

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Prop. 99 (1988) Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act.

- Cigarette And Tobacco Tax. - Benefit Fund. - Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute. - (placed a 25-cent per pack tax on cigarettes) - (earmarked revenue for environmental and health care programs, including the California Department of Health Services Tobacco Control Program)

This program, Proposition 99, is one of the biggest anti-tobacco interventions worldwide and is widely considered to have been highly successful. Smoking rates in California have steadily declined, from close to 23 percent in 1998 to 14 percent today. California now has the second-lowest rate of adult smoking in the nation, following Utah, and one of the lowest rates of youth smoking (roughly 13 percent of California youth smoke; by comparison, 21.7 percent of high school students smoke nationwide). Proposition 99 has been credited with the dramatic decline of tobacco-related cancers across the state of California.

Proposition 99 was the first tobacco tax measure that was enacted in California. It was followed by the 1998 California Proposition 10, The California Children and Families First Act, now known as First 5 California.