The Original Game » ition 56 also will add a $2 per pack state tax to

SAN DIEGO -- Smoking has dropped to historic lows nationwide, dramatically decreasing revenue from tobacco taxes. Adidas NMD Rebajas . In search of funds, a growing number of states are taxing electronic cigarettes -- a trend that is sparking a fierce public health debate over whether it will deter smokers from switching to a safer alternative.California became the seventh state to tax e-cigarettes with the overwhelming approval of a Nov. 8 ballot measure. Proposition 56 also will add a $2 per pack state tax to cigarettes onto the already existing 87 cents per pack tax.State officials are still calculating the new tax structure. The vaping industry estimates the tax could hike up the price of the battery-operated devices and liquids by more than 60 percent, making it more expensive to vape than smoke, even with the additional per-pack tobacco tax.California just made the most attractive option unattractive for many smokers, and unaffordable, said Gregory Conley of the American Vaping Association, which advocates for electronic cigarettes as an alternative to tobacco. Some may never make an attempt to quit.The taxation of e-cigarettes has split the public health community between those who support e-cigarettes being treated the same as tobacco and those who see them as an important tool in the fight against smoking, the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States.Theres no scientific consensus on the risks or advantages of vaping.Its one of the nastiest debates Ive ever seen in the public health community, and Ive been researching tobacco control policies for 40 years, University of Michigan public health professor Kenneth Warner said. The momentum, if you will, is in the direction against e-cigarettes, for sure, and it is unfortunate in a big way, because we may be missing out on a potential intervention that could reduce the toll of smoking by a lot.E-cigarettes heat a nicotine liquid into a vapor, delivering the chemical that smokers crave without the harmful tar generated from burning tobacco.Britain promotes the devices for smokers. Its leading physicians organization said it found the devices were 95 percent safer than cigarettes, but some U.S. researchers dispute that.E-cigarettes emit chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other harm, and there is concern over the long-term impact that nicotine has on adolescent brain development, according to Californias Public Health Department. Use among young adults ages 18 to 29 has tripled in the state.The evidence is piling up very fast that e-cigarettes are more dangerous than people thought, said Stanton A. Glantz, a professor of medicine and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California San Francisco.Stanton said the universitys analysis of more than three dozen studies also found only a fraction of smokers quit after switching to e-cigarettes and that many end up smoking and vaping, which could be worse.Concern over the jump in youth users was a driving force behind taxing e-cigarettes, Stanton said.If we could snap our fingers and have all smokers become e-cigarette users -- and not change anything else -- that would be better, he said. The problem is all the other complicated things going on.Representatives from around 180 countries participating in the World Health Organizations global tobacco control treaty negotiations, including the United States, adopted a declaration earlier this month in which they vowed to prohibit or regulate the sale of e-cigarettes. The declaration comes months after the U.S. announced its first federal regulations of e-cigarettes.The $3 billion vaping industry fears taxes coupled with regulations will shut down many small shops.Scott Drenkard of the nonpartisan Tax Foundation said the products potential to help smokers is losing out to the rush to recover eroding tobacco tax revenues, which make up as much as 2 percent of state budgets. More than two dozen states have considered taxing e-cigarettes since 2015.In California, tobacco tax revenue dropped by 44 percent between 1989 and last year, from $1.6 billion to roughly $830 million. The state has the nations second-lowest smoking rate, behind Utah.State officials estimate Proposition 56 will raise more than $1 billion in the first year for California, with much of the money earmarked for health care for the poor.Public health experts, like Warner, favor a staggered system that applies a heavy tax on tobacco cigarettes, a lighter tax on e-cigarettes and keeping no tax on nicotine replacement therapies that have been determined to be relatively risk-free. That would deter young people from vaping the liquids that come in candy flavors and provide a financial incentive for smokers to switch, they say.North Carolina adds a tax of 5 cents to each milliliter of nicotine liquid compared with 45 cents per pack for traditional cigarettes.With no consensus on the health impact, some say it makes sense for states to follow Californias lead and not tax them differently. Adidas NMD Baratas . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. Adidas NMD España . The defending champion beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-3, while second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain dispatched Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, 6-3, 6-3. Making his first appearance since injuring his wrist a month ago, Del Potro had difficulty with his service games in the first set. http://www.adidasnmdbaratas.es/ . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. In his third season of Take Two of Louisville, Bobby Petrino has the Cardinals right where he wants them. Almost.The 19th-ranked Cardinals open the season at home Thursday night at Papa Johns Stadium but the road brings bigger tests very soon, namely a Sept. 17 date with No. 4 Florida State and, two weeks later, a close-up with second-ranked Clemson.Now its time to cut it loose, Petrino said Monday. Youre working hard and you get tired of going against the same guy every day in practice. And once in a while we get a little testy about it.The Cardinals turn it loose Thursday (7 p.m. ET) against Charlotte, which went 2-10 last season. The 49ers are a 40-point underdog (39.5 as of Monday afternoon) and growing pains are expected in just the second season for the program at the FBS level. The football program is only five years old.Charlottes offense should be improved with Miami (Fla.) transfer Kevin Olsen at quarterback. Nine offensive starters return, however, offensive line play was a recurring issue in 2015, and Louisville brings relentless edge pressure.While Petrino feels he knows his team far better this season than he did in his first two years since returning to Louisville, not everyone has a firm grip on what the Cardinals will showcase this week. Petrino said he left the depth chart to sports information director Rocco Gasparro and told media not to read much into it.We still practice (Tuesday), Petrino said. Weve got a lot of work to do. Weve got guys that we have to see that theyre full speed ready to go.AAs expectations go, the headliner is sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson, who set a Music City Bowl record for total yards -- 227 passing, 226 rushing -- after guiding Louisville to a comeback win over Kentucky in the regular-season finale. Zapatillas NMD Baratas. Jackson is just one part of a loaded backfield that helped Petrinos offense hum late last season.Petrino was relentless in fall camp and players said his expectations are clear -- its time to measure up to the Seminoles and Tigers, the teams most expect to compete for the Atlantic Coast Conference crown and national title this season.Defense will dictate how soon that tale of the tape equals out for Louisville.Four players on that side of the ball weighed entering the NFL draft. Each returned, led by linebackers Keith Kelsey and Devonte Fields. Louisville did subtract defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, the powerful and hyperactive interior rusher, but Petrino and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham are high on DeAngelo Brown as a good bet to ease the pain of that loss.A fast start, this week and in September as a whole, might tell the tale of the Louisville season.A year ago we had a tough start to the season, Petrino said. We were playing a bunch of young guys. What they did is they stuck together, they worked hard at practice, they took the losses hard. They found a way to get better and improve as the year went on and win some big games. ' ' '