Opinion: Fight back against Big Tobacco in Montana
This November, Montanans can vote YES on Initiative 185 and improve the quality of life in our state. I-185 will enhance health care and essential support services for thousands of Montanans and continues Montana’s anti-smoking and tobacco use prevention efforts.
Big Tobacco’s $9 MILLION marketing campaign to date is cynically designed to recruit new smokers from vulnerable populations. Historically, Big Tobacco has given away free cigarettes to psychiatric facilities and they use marketing techniques that focus on the supposed stress relief and relaxation of their dangerous products. As behavioral health providers, we’re tired of having our vulnerable population targeted by out-of-state Big Tobacco.
Tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable death in Montana and in our nation. Tobacco kills 1,600 Montanans every year and costs businesses millions of dollars in lost productivity. Our nation’s smoking rate is 15 percent among adults. The smoking rate for those with behavioral health disorders is a staggering 40 percent.
The lies in the $9 MILLION campaign by Big Tobacco makes it sound like this is just another tax increase. Wrong! If you don’t smoke, you pay nothing! If you do smoke, quit! You know you should anyway.
Raising cigarette taxes by two dollars per pack can prevent some 8,000 Montanans from becoming new smokers. The higher tax will help 9,300 current smokers break their addiction, decreasing smoking rates by as much as 20.6 percent. But Big Tobacco will oppose the new taxes with dishonest and deceptive campaigns. They are under investigation for illegally marketing to children, and now they are spending millions to deceive Montanans about I-185. Tobacco corporations have spent millions lobbying legislators to defeat tobacco taxes before, now Big Tobacco and other special interests are spending $9 million to defeat I-185, putting their profits ahead of the health and welfare of Montanans.
Aren’t you tired of out-of-state big money interests coming in to Montana and trying to influence us? The revenues from increased tobacco taxes can be used to invest in public health programs including Medicaid, Veteran’s services, disability support, and senior services.
The Montana legislature voted to expand Medicaid in 2015 with the HELP act that now provides health insurance for 90,000 Montanans. This coverage is due to expire in 2019. A YES vote for I-185 would continue health insurance coverage for thousands of Montanans including many children and seniors. By expanding those services, we help sustain the rural clinics and hospitals that serve small towns all across Montana.
We Montanans can control our fate, and we can fight back against Big Tobacco to make our lives better. We can do this by voting YES for I-185 in November, and make the future brighter for all Montanans!
Signed by the Behavioral Health Alliance of Montana Board of Directors: Bob Wigdorski; Dan Krause; Jim Fitzgerald; Julie Fleck; Kathy Chavis; Lenette Kosovich; Lenore Myers; Sydney Blair; Natalie McGillen, Levi Anderson, Mary Windecker, and alliance members.