A ballot initiative to raise the state tax on cigarettes by USD 1 (EUR 0.80) was in trouble early Wednesday with nearly complete returns showing a narrow margin for rejecting the measure, according to newspaper accounts

By early Wednesday morning, the ‘no’ voters held a 63,176 vote lead, representing a margin for rejection of 50.8 per cent to 49.2 per cent, the San Jose Mercury reported on its website. All precincts have reported but the final result awaits the counting of absentee and provisional ballots.
California collects 87 cents per pack in taxes, a levy that has not been raised in nearly two decades, according to the Los Angeles Times. Tobacco companies spent almost USD 47 million to defeat the proposed increase, which is intended to raise more than USD 800 million a year for cancer research and smoking cessation programs, the newspaper reported. (pi)