Research funds go up in smoke with tobacco tax bid

A California ballot initiative that would have raised tobacco taxes in the state by a dollar a pack and generated an estimated $600 million a year to support cancer research as well as tobacco prevention and cessation programmes has failed.

Known as Proposition 29, the controversial measure appeared on the California ballot on 5 June. Opposed by tobacco and anti-tax groups, it was sponsored by organisations including the American Cancer Society in California, the American Lung Association in California, and the American Heart Association.