Report says rate should be higher

ATLANTA --- Georgia's cigarette taxes are far too low to provide young smokers a good enough reason to avoid the habit, according to a new report issued by the American Lung Association.

The State of Tobacco Control 2007 gives Georgia largely poor marks across the board, though recent legislation to restrict smoking in public places earned the state a "B" in the "smoke-free air" category.

The state got an "F" for its 37-cents-a-pack tax on cigarettes. The association says the average state tax on cigarettes is $1.11 a pack.

"We know we do get a reduction in kids smoking when you increase the price," said June Deen, a spokeswoman for the association's Southeast Region office. "(Lawmakers) do need to consider raising the cigarette tax appreciably."

That could be a struggle. A tax increase pushed by Gov. Sonny Perdue met stiff resistance from lawmakers from both parties before ultimately becoming law.

Ms. Deen said, though, that the earlier fight could actually help to at least blunt any fear of political retribution for raising the tax.

"Nobody got voted out of office," she said, adding that one survey found 71 percent of Georgians supported the increase. "People look at a cigarette tax much differently. It's like a user fee or a user tax. It's like a choice, in other words."

Lawmakers are already working on a major property-tax reform bill, Ms. Deen said.

"It's an excellent opportunity to look at where we're at on cigarette taxes," she said.

But the cigarette industry would all but certainly challenge another increase. They say states often lose money when they raise the tax because smokers are more likely to purchase their cigarettes on the black market.

They also say the taxes hurt lower-income taxpayers.

"Because a factory worker pays the same per-pack tax as a wealthy executive, the tax represents a larger portion of the lower-income consumer's budget," according to nocigtax.com, a Web site sponsored by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. "Since most smokers are low- or middle-income Americans, increasing cigarette taxes forces those who can least afford it to shoulder the burden."