After weeks of counting absentee and provisional ballots following California’s June 5 primary election, Proposition 29, the California Cancer Research Act, was defeated today. The measure failed by a narrow margin, 50.3 – 49.7 percent. (The final tally is subject to change—the Secretary of State has until July 13 to certify the election results.)
Prop 29 would’ve increased state tax on cigarettes by $1 per pack and applied the revenue to fund cancer and tobacco-related disease research and tobacco prevention and cessation programs in California.
“It’s disappointing to see that the tens millions of dollars the tobacco industry spent on deceptive ads against this life-saving measure were so effective,” said Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D., president and director of Sanford-Burnham’s National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center. “We missed a unique opportunity to create the world’s largest Cancer Research Fund, surpassed only by the National Cancer Institute, right here in California.”
The state’s tobacco tax hasn’t been increased this century and, at just 87 cents per pack, the current tax is one of the nation’s lowest. California also has the highest number of smokers of any state—a distinction that costs taxpayers more than $9 billion in health care costs every year.
Meanwhile, according to a May 2012 report published by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation and United for Medical Research, the U.S. federal government’s investment in research and development (R&D) is in decline. Adjusting for inflation, National Institutes of Health funding peaked in 2003 and has decreased in every year but one since.
At the same time, other countries are surpassing the U.S. in innovation. Between 1999 and 2009, Asia’s share of worldwide R&D expenditures grew from 24 to 32 percent, while the U.S.’s decreased from 38 to 31 percent. If current trends continue, China’s investment in biomedical research is likely to double the U.S.’s investment in the next five years.
“The declining support by the federal government means that many good ideas—perhaps tomorrow’s cures—are being left on a shelf due to lack of funding, young scientists are likely to leave research careers, and whole labs may need to shut down,” Vuori said. “If we want California to continue as a world leader in technology and innovation, and in producing new diagnostics, treatments and cures, we need the state’s support. While the California Cancer Research Act failed to pass this time, we continue to work hard to translate our cutting-edge medical research to benefit patients with cancer and other life-threatening diseases.”