CALIFORNIA TOBACCO CONTROL SAGA

The California tobacco control program known as Proposition 99 was est ablished in 1989 using a portion of a twenty-five-cent increase in the cigarette tax. With an initial availability of more than $150 million , tobacco control was the state's single most important public health activity. Health and medical care programs also were supported by the tax. Despite sustained public support, the tobacco control component w as weakened by political actions of the tobacco industry and also by t he competing efforts of organized medicine and the lack of support fro m the executive and legislative branches of government. Nevertheless, Proposition 99 succeeded in reducing exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, cigarette consumption, and smoking prevalence among adults in California.