CA: Ballot Measure to tax prescription drugs cleared

[NMMNG]

I understand the guy lost his kids but http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_19409983">his proposal is nuts. Sadly this is CA where anybody can get just about anything on the ballot.

The father of two Danville children killed in 2003 by a drunken, drugged driver has been cleared by the Secretary of State to start circulating a proposed ballot measure that would put a temporary tax on prescription drugs sold in California.

The quarter-cent-per-pill tax, effective for three years starting Jan. 1, 2013, would apply to drug manufacturers and importers selling a wide range of prescription drugs. The proceeds -- about $7 million per year, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office and state Finance Department -- would fund the state Justice Department's Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System, or CURES.
<snip>

"It's a shame the drug companies are fighting it so much because they have a moral and ethical obligation to see that their drugs are prescribed safely," Pack said. "I'm pursuing the tax on them because I believe they shouldn't be able to make hundreds of millions of dollars from fraudulent abuse and then have California absorb all the impact of the consequences."
<snip>

Some guy mixed alcohol and a prescription drug and the "solution" is to add a tax to prescription drugs? :wtf: This tax will do nothing to prevent idiots like that driver. It will only hurt low-income and uninsured/under-insured people. Hopefully enough people will understand that and will refuse to sign the petitions.

[pinto]

1. Feel for the father...Sadly misdirected attempt, though, in my opinion.

:hi:

[Book Lover]

2. OK, so let's engage in a hypothetical scenario

I'm on my way into Safeway, and I'm stopped by a hired gun sig gatherer. The clipboard is brandished, the pitch is barked out. I say a few words and look at the petitions. "You want to tax my prescriptions? Medicine is expensive enough as it is, and now you want to tax it?" I put the clipboard down and walk into the store. The end.

Is anything about the above is off-base? This proposal simply will not make our ballot.

[customerserviceguy]

5. Agreed

While I absolutely believe this is a totally nutso reaction to this situation, I still think that it's important that initiative measures be allowed the freedom to rise and fall by the amount of public support they can harness.

I now live in a state without the initiative process, it feels like I'm missing something.

[NMMNG]

6. I'm not sure

On its face it would seem it allows more participation by The People. Unfortunately it also allows more pure crap to get through on sheer fearmongering and similar manipulation. That's how we got Prop8 and how we keep getting the Parental Notification garbage year after year. Then there's the problem of manpower and money. How much of both are being wasted reviewing these things, evaluating the potential costs and so on? I can't help but wonder how much could be saved if the system were changed.

[customerserviceguy]

7. Yes, there is crap that gets through

But there are a lot of good things, too. Death with dignity is something we got when I lived in WA state.

I suppose that there are causes such as parental notification that are unpopular with folks here, but seem to be acceptable to majorities in even some fairly blue states. If legislatures will not answer to the popular will, its good to have an alternative. I also suppose that it's too easy to get on the ballot in some states, but that's up to the people making laws in that state to regulate.

In this instance, we're talking about the right to try to collect signatures for an initiative, as long as an initiative process is in place, I'd rather see the maximum amount of freedom and latitude extended. The people know how to ignore most appeals to their darker sides, most of the time.

[roody]

3. The voters will say no.

[DefenseLawyer]

4. The only way I would support a tax on prescriptions

is if there were also price controls to keep the tax from being passed on to the consumer.