by Teh-Wei Hu et al.

About the author: Teh-Wei Hu is a professor of health economics in the School of Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley.

Proposition 99, the California Tobacco Tax and Health Promotion Act of 1988, was enacted by voters in November 1988, and became law on January 1, 1989. The initiative amended the state constitution, increasing the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products by 25 cents, from 10 cents to 35 cents per pack. It also specified how these revenues may be used.

Allocation of Funds

A health education account receives 20 percent of the revenues “for programs for the prevention and reduction of tobacco use, primarily among children, through school and community health education programs” [according to a 1990 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association]. Hospitals and physicians who provide services for patients who...