We’re on the ballot!

The Colorado Secretary of State has approved our petitions for the November ballot. Now the hard work begins.

Colorado voters will be asked this November to increase the cigarette tax to reduce smoking, save lives and provide funding for medical research and health care services for kids, veterans, and those most affected by smoking. The Colorado Secretary of State Office today approved the measure after determining that enough voter signatures were submitted.

We need to stay strong in our resolve if we’re going to win this campaign. While we haven’t seen any organized opposition from the tobacco industry yet, we expect they will show up with a vocal (and well funded) campaign any day now.

Cigarettes kill more than 5,000 Coloradans every year, and the tobacco industry will stop at nothing to target kids for lifelong addiction. Big Tobacco, in fighting a similar tax increase in California, has already spent almost $17 million. We should expect to see the same here.

Last year cigarette sales increased in Colorado for the first time in over a decade. Increasing the cigarette tax is a proven way to fight this deadly problem and keep more kids from starting to smoke.