Mitch Landrieu: “The issue that has been most contentious about this tobacco legislation has been how do we really stop people--children…”

“The issue that has been most contentious about this tobacco legislation has been how do we really stop people--children, adults and young people--from smoking? We have debated that. Many of us feel like the best way, the surest way to stop people from smoking, from using a dangerous product that has now been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be dangerous, is to raise the price of a pack of cigarettes high enough to discourage as many young people as possible from even starting to smoke and, frankly, discourage adults, who most certainly have a choice, from continuing a habit. It is a purposeful levy. If we could stop people from smoking by not raising the price of a pack of cigarettes, perhaps we should consider that. But I am convinced, as many Members of this Chamber are, that this is the best and most effective way, along with counteradvertising, advertising restrictions, and other restrictions, which, in fact, will be effective.”