Tobacco Prevention

 

What it is: Legislation that will decrease the number of people who currently smoke or use other harmful tobacco products and prevent those who don’t use tobacco, particularly kids, from ever picking up the habit in the first place.

 

Why it’s Upstream: When you include the healthcare costs of tobacco-related illnesses as well as the lost productivity of tobacco users, the true price of a pack of cigarettes is $11.15, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Simply put, tobacco kills. And the only way to stop its deadliness is to get people not to smoke.

 

What we’re doing: Upstream is assessing the political landscape to stage a re-introduction of a tobacco tax, along with partners at the Tobacco Free Coalition of Oregon. which the House failed to bring up for a vote during the 2009 session. A tobacco tax is a proven smoking prevention tool—for every 10 percent increase in price, adult cigarette consumption goes down 4 percent and 7 percent more youth never pick up the smoking habit.