Most of the attention on a new cigarette tax now awaiting action by Gov. Linda Lingle has focused on its potential to discourage smoking, particularly among young people. But there is another critical aspect to this important bill.

Fully half the proceeds from this tax will go to support the planned new Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i, which would be built next to the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Kaka'ako. It's estimated that the tax would generate around $20 million a year for the center. The other half would go toward tobacco prevention and health promotion activities by the state.

The key point is that if the tax hike is vetoed (Lingle has not yet said what she will do), the new center is virtually dead in the water, at least according to Carl-Wilhelm Vogel, the center's director.

And the loss of this new research and treatment facility would be a serious blow to Hawai'i's emerging reputation in medical and biomedical research and development.

While the existing Cancer Research Center has been engaged in well-recognized research and some clinical trials for more than three decades, it lacks the cutting-edge facilities and added staffing that the new facility would provide. The center is envisioned as a focus for innovative early-phase clinical trials and patient treatment, Vogel said.

This new center would put Hawai'i squarely on the map in the areas of medical research and advanced cancer treatment.

Gov. Lingle should sign this measure or, at least, allow it to become law without her signature. This is less a tax increase than a way to invest in our health and economic future.