On Tuesday, November 8th, Colorado retailers, their employees and adult customers are urged to go to the polls and vote “No” on Amendment 72. This amendment to the Colorado state constitution would increase the Colorado cigarette tax by $1.75 per pack from the current $.84 per pack to $2.59 per pack and raise the excise tax on other tobacco products by another 22% of the manufacturer’s list price.

The facts about Amendment 72 are as follows:

1. Amendment 72 raises tobacco taxes by $315 million per year, but dedicates less than 20% of the new tax money to smoking prevention.
2. More than half of the new tobacco tax revenue generated by Amendment 72 would be earmarked for programs that have not yet been determined yet and 27% of the funds would go for grants with no established guidelines. This massive tax increase gives state agencies a blank check to spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year with only vague direction and little oversight.
3. Colorado has received more than $1.6 billion from tobacco manufacturers under the Master Settlement Agreement that could be used for tobacco prevention and treatment, but the state has spent most of that revenue on unrelated government programs. Instead of raising tobacco taxes, Colorado should stop diverting these funds to unrelated programs and spend the revenue on helping people stop smoking and keeping underage youth from starting.

For more information on Amendment 72, visit www.NoOnAmendment72.com.