I will vote yes on Prop 29, but I wish it was more like $20 a pack. People need to wake up to how bad smoking is for them (and everyone around them).

How about $100. a pack, puff reefer instead I say.

Vote NO on 29. On the surface it seems like all the tax dollars are going to Cancer research, but in truth. It's not.

People who are going to vote yes on 29, are voting with their emotions. Get the facts before you vote.

I don't care where the money is going. I don't care if they burn it. All I care about is that they make people who still think it's okay to smoke, especially in public, quit because they can't afford it.

When I was in high school, cigarettes were under a dollar a pack. Every few years, they add on another tax and claim that people will quit because of the cost, or not start such a bad habit to begin with. Complete and utter B.S.

If people want to smoke, they're going to smoke. The price has more than quadrupled in the past 25 years, and it' hasn't stopped them... and those taxes that keep getting added to for anti-smoking campaigns, health coverage, etc... they haven't done any good either, as I still see people smoking everywhere, every day.

Not to mention, when our govt. is already bloated, this additional tax comes with MORE government. It's not like they're writing a check to cancer research, there will be committees and salaries and political appointees whittling away at that dollar per pack that cancer research will probably only get a few cents... and, the money they do get doesn't have to be spent in California. Taxes on Californians should be spent in the state to get ourselves out of the hole we're in. Not a single cent goes to balancing the state's budget (what taxes should really be for).

People are probably going to vote by emotion instead of reason and pass this, but don't be surprised when you notice that nothing will change.

What has happened to freedom in this country?

Freedom means putting up with things you might object to.

I don't smoke. I never have. I think it's disgusting and can't understand how anyone could ever start.

But I believe a person has the right to smoke.

To all the dumb dumbs out there saying to raise the tax to $20 a pack. You'd only create a black market for cigarettes.

People are going to smoke. Deal with it. I'm sure we all do something that someone else thinks is stupid. That doesn't mean they should be able to tell you stop.

I will be voting no on the cigarette tax. I do not smoke cigarettes but I do smoke cigars. I buy my cigars out of state for this very reason! Why should people pay taxes for a product that they are harassed for using? Smoker's are a minority that people feel good about discriminating against.

If you listen to the people in the video, a couple of them think they know what is best for other people. The truth is that it is thin, healthy people that put the most burden on the health care system because when they get old, the cost of their health care in their declining decade or so far exceeds that of those who smoke.

This tax, like most other taxes will only go to more bloated government bureaucracy and waste! Those who don't smoke will feel good because they are punishing those "dirty, nasty" smokers, but the fact is that they will be only be hurting their friends, family and community.

The money that will be wasted by this tax could have been spent instead in the community to the benefit of stores, schools, and restaurants. Already there are a lot more vacant storefronts on and near Castro Street than I have seen in a long time. If this tax passes, I can guarantee that you will see more unemployment and less local services as funds are transferred from the private to the public sector. Then those of you who voted for this can smile knowing you put your neighbors out of work.

I agree with my neighbor Otto, "Freedom means putting up with things you might object to." Furthermore, freedom means taking responsibility for your actions. Smoking causes cancer. If you choose to smoke, then you should cough up a buck a pack (pardon the pun) to do something about the results of this choice.

To those concerned about the money spent on cigarettes staying in California, outside of the taxes already levied on tobacco, what fraction of the remainder goes to California jobs and how much goes to the big tobacco companies based in Virginia, North Carolina, New York and overseas? I bet the out-of-state companies that are spending tens of millions in advertising to defeat this measure are anticipating reaping many times that amount in profits from California pockets if they prevent prop 29.

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