Tobacco tax will save lives, cut medical costs

As a practicing physician for over 20 years in Kern County, I have seen many patients who have been affected by smoking -- including those who have never smoked -- and I want to do everything in my power to make sure that early detection of lung disease, cancer research and smoking prevention programs are growing in California.

SB 600, a bill authored by state Sen. Alex Padilla and co-sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association and other health organizations, does just that.

SB 600 would increase the cigarette and tobacco tax in California by $1.50 per pack, a portion of which would go the tobacco control and lung cancer research, and would most importantly reduce the number of teen smokers. Smoking is the largest preventable cause of death in California, and by reducing consumption through an increased tax, we can save hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of dollars in health care costs. It's about time that California increase the cigarette and tobacco tax.

SB 600 will not only save lives, but will keep nearly 361,000 kids from becoming addicted. In my years as a doctor in the San Joaquin Valley, where air pollution is higher and asthma more prevalent than other parts of the state, I understand the need to detect and treat emphysema, asthma, bronchitis and other lung diseases immediately, especially in children.

One in five children in the San Joaquin Valley have asthma, in Kern County alone there are over 20,000 cases of pediatric asthma and nearly double the amount of adult asthma cases. SB 600 will help to reduce the growth of those numbers by expanding the tobacco control program, deterring teens from starting to smoke and reducing the number of smokers.

California hasn't increased the tax on cigarettes and tobacco in 10 years, but the incidence of heart and lung disease and smoking related cancers continues to rise, claiming nearly 40,000 lives annually. SB 600 is projected to reduce youth smoking by 21 percent, cause nearly 190,000 current smokers to quit, prevent more than 165,000 premature deaths and save California $8.1 billion in health care costs.

SB 600 will also help California get back on track by contributing $1.2 billion to the state's general fund in the first year alone. The budget deficit in California has forced already existing health and education programs to be cut and in some cases, eliminated, but SB 600 would help close that gap by contributing to the general fund.

The funds not used for tobacco prevention can help save some of the vital health and education programs threatened by California's budget deliberations.

Big tobacco companies have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to avoid a tax increase in California- and they've gotten away with it for over a decade. Nine states (with both Democratic and Republican governors), Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, have enacted tobacco increases in 2009. There is no better time than right now to increase the tax; it will save lives, prevent tobacco addiction by our teens, reduce future health care costs and help balance the state budget. It's about time.

Ravi Patel, MD, is a board certified oncologist and founder of the Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center. He lives in Bakersfield.