Anti-Tobacco Coalition Launches Signature Petition Drive for Increased Cigarette Taxes (VIDEO)

I hate new taxes. But I especially hate them when they're imposed through the initiative process by far left-wing nut jobs --- like billionaire enviro-wacko Tom Steyer!

I don't smoke. But it's high time to leave smokers alone.

At the Sacramento Bee, "Coalition launches petition to take tobacco tax to November ballot":

Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer and Democratic Sen. Richard Pan spoke about the evils of cigarettes and vaporizers Tuesday at C.K. McClatchy High School as they joined a coalition of medical and labor groups to launch a petition for a ballot measure that would levy a $2 tax on tobacco sales.

“My mother smoked three packs a day of non-filtered cigarettes and died of lung cancer, so I have a personal interest in preventing smoking and preventing young people from starting smoking,” Steyer said to a room of teenagers. Steyer is a former hedge-fund manager turned advocate for legislation to fight climate change.

The ballot measure calls for the state to largely funnel the revenue from a tobacco tax to Medi-Cal, with some money set aside for anti-smoking programs and research on tobacco-related illnesses and diseases. The tax would apply to cigarettes, e-cigarettes and any other products containing or derived from tobacco or nicotine.

Pan, a practicing pediatrician from Sacramento, warned students that despite misconceptions, e-cigarettes are also addictive and contain nicotine...

Still more.