Do you know a kid that goes to Ladue High School? What about University City? Parkway South? Kirkwood? Ritenour? Picture these five high schools full of teenagers, over eight thousand in all. Now imagine that every single kid at every one of these high schools is a smoker. Addicted young, they’ll find it difficult to quit and are likely to suffer, and perhaps even die, from their addiction. I don’t like that picture. And that’s why I’m voting yes on Prop B.

Eight thousand six hundred. That’s how many Missouri children every year will never start smoking if Prop B passes. Eight thousand six hundred lives that won’t be snuffed out too soon by lung cancer or marred by hacking coughs and blackened lungs.  We know that raising the tax rate on cigarettes leads to lower levels of smoking – other states that have raised their tobacco taxes have shown this to be true. Yet, we stubbornly cling to the lowest cigarette tax in the nation, as 10,000 Missourians die from smoking-related diseases each year. It’s time that Missouri pulls itself up from the bottom of the heap and puts the health of our citizens first.  When you mark your ballot on Tuesday, I hope you join me in voting YES on Prop B.

Sincerely,

State Rep. Tracy McCreery

D- Olivette