Beshear urges public to lobby legislators for 70-cent cigarette tax increase

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Gov. Steve Beshear called again yesterday for a 70-cent increase in Kentucky's cigarette tax, urging people to lobby their lawmakers if they agree.

Beshear acknowledged that until recently he had opposed any cigarette tax increase but added, "I changed my mind."

Beshear said Kentucky must approve a significant boost to its current 30-cent tax -- the nation's 47th-lowest -- if it wants to cut its high rate of smoking, reduce health-care costs and raise much-needed revenue.

Beshear said after his appearance yesterday that he expects the budget to go to a conference committee in the final days of the legislative session and believes a higher cigarette tax is still possible.

Others who spoke at the rally and press conference included Courtney Otto, 20, of Louisville, who said her mother died of lung cancer three years ago even though she never smoked.

Doctors blame secondhand smoke her mother experienced growing up and in the workplace, said Otto, a junior at Dartmouth College.

"Tobacco's toll on Kentucky is disastrous," said Otto, who has become an anti-smoking advocat

Others who attended included Dr. Robert Slaton, a physician and chairman of the health committee of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, which supports a cigarette tax increase.

And Jeffrey Bringardner, president of Humana's Kentucky division, also spoke, saying that smoking costs Kentucky $1.5 billion a year in health-care expenses -- $5 million of that in costs paid by Medicaid, the government health plan for the poor and disabled.

The 25-cent tax increase currently proposed won't be enough to discourage smoking in Kentucky, particularly among youths, he said.

[big foot]

leave the cigarette's alone and start on the alcohol or would that make everyone in frankfort mad

[Hillary]

Tax the alcohol. You can get away from cigarette smoke. A drunk driver you cannot run from. I say tax alcohol. Save lives.

[History Buff]

PBS: New show ....

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08083/866747-4...
(PBS.org TV schedules: http://www.pbs.org Show title: Unnatural Causes)

Eat right, exercise, don't smoke, inherit good genes and, conventional wisdom dictates, you gain the best measure of protection against illness.

Not so fast, argues a new PBS series.

"Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?," airing on four consecutive Thursdays beginning this week, explores the idea that work, race, economic status and neighborhood conditions may affect a person's health as much or more than habits or genetics.

Looking at communities in several states including Pennsylvania, the series examines why America ranks as the world's wealthiest nation and yet is 30th in life expectancy and 31st in infant mortality.

Among the intriguing questions "Unnatural Causes" probes: Why do poor Mexican immigrants see their health erode the longer they stay in America? Why do poor smokers develop lung cancer more often than rich smokers? Why are some black and American Indian populations less likely to reach 65 than people from Bangladesh or Ghana?

Improved housing, higher wages and more control on the job foster health as much as quitting smoking or eating well, according to a Harvard University epidemiologist quoted in the series. In other words, social policy may be crucial to a citizenry's physical well-being.

The first episode, airing 10 p.m. Thursday on WQED and titled "In Sickness and in Wealth," looks at the link between health and wealth through the lives of Louisville, Ky., residents, including a CEO, a lab supervisor, a janitor and a welfare mother.

PBS Description: Episode title: In Sickness And In Wealth

Episode description: This is a story about health, but it's not about doctors or drugs. Set mostly in Louisville, Kentucky, it's a detective story out to solve the mystery of what's stalking and killing so many Americans before their time. The program uncovers the connections between healthy bodies and healthy bank accounts - and why residents of so many other nations, including many poorer countries, live longer and healthier lives. Solutions, evidence suggests, may lie not in more pills but in more equality.

Episode guide: The connections between healthy bodies and healthy bank accounts are uncovered.

[Any Fule No Dat]

Smokers get treated like 2nd rate animals, & it aint about anybodie's health. It is all about the money. Brilliant idea, punish smokers because not everyone wants to bring gambling into Kentucky. Give us a break, man. Senator Williams is a smart man. Gambling only brings more sin. The poor smokers are just a scapegoat anyway. They have my sympathy. They wanna have a buncha robots like 1984. Wise up people.