Who Are The Real Sinners?
Regarding “Hefty cigarette taxes cut smoking big-time. But there’s a downside for children” (Los Angeles, LATimes.com, Sep. 20): California voters passed a “sin tax” in an effort to encourage smokers to give up the habit and fund early childhood programs. The measure that was passed in 1998 worked and cigarette sales were down by millions. The downside of this was that funding for early childhood programs was also down. The programs that were funded included: “preschools, homeless family housing, pediatric dental and mental health services and key infant-mother home visiting programs” which now face a serious funding crisis. What programs get to stay and which will go have yet to be determined, but no matter which one, it is a great loss for many people.
This proposition was said to be a brilliant solution because it would “tax the sinners who are smoking to help newborns and their parents”. There are many problems within this statement, the first being “sinners”. Instead of implementing a tax for the betterment of smokers, it is made to be a punishment. A punishment that has now resulted in the cutting of programs that assist childhood health and wellness. How brilliant is a proposition if they didn’t foresee the implications of it succeeding? We should do better than entwining the success of one measure to the failure of another. Smokers should not be framed as sinners and early childhood programs should not have to suffer the consequences of oversight.
Photo Credit: Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times
A measure that was meant to encourage healthy habits, hurts education funding
Jenny Gold| LA Times| September 20, 2023