Posted: Jun 5, 2012 10:11 PM by CJ, The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Early election returns show Californians divided on whether to slap an additional $1-per-pack tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products to fund cancer research.
With 5 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, 53 percent of voters were approving Proposition 29.
The attempt to increase cigarettes taxes in the nation's most populous state has attracted nationwide attention, with tobacco companies helping to raise $50 million to quash the effort and celebrities like cycling legend Lance Armstrong urging voters to support it.
Tobacco taxes have been proven to reduce smoking. But opponents say the initiative would create an unaccountable bureaucracy and hurt the economy by sending tax money raised in California to other states.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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