A yellow school bus carrying signs supporting "Proposition B," the tobacco tax increase voters will see on next month's election ballot, ended its campaign travel around Missouri with a Friday afternoon rally at the Capitol.
"Missouri has the lowest tobacco tax in the country, at 17 cents per pack (of cigarettes)," said Misty Snodgrass, the American Cancer Society's Legislative/Government Affairs director in Missouri, "and this directly relates to our poor health outcomes and high smoking rates - especially among youth."
The proposed new law, placed on the ballot by an initiative petition campaign, would raise taxes by 25 percent "of the manufacturer's invoice price" for "roll-your-own" tobacco, and 15 percent on all other tobacco products except cigarettes, where the increase would be 73 cents a pack, to 90.