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STATEWIDE--Hoosiers support a cigarette tax hike. 

Christine Matthews, President of Bellwether Research, looked into why that’s the case. 

“In our December statewide poll, seven in ten voters supported a $2 per pack increase in the price of cigarettes,” Matthews said. 

Right now, Indiana smokers pay just under $1 per pack in taxes. She says a tax on smoking isn’t generally viewed as a tax. 

“79{a951f02a8cac8e6d7fde2726b1b22da104131bed62748b49fddce88fa07005a6} say that a cigarette tax increase is more of a user fee than a traditional tax increase,” Matthews said. 

A portion of the money raised from the tax hike would go to tobacco prevention programs.  

A bill to raise the cigarette tax is expected to be proposed in the statehouse in the next few days. 

The Alliance for a Healthier Indiana says Indiana ranks 41st in worst percentage of smokers and tobacco use costs Indiana about $6 billion per year. That same organization says second hand smoke costs $2.1 billion in excess medical expenses and premature loss of life.  

 

(PHOTO: Smoking_Thinkstock_Marc Bruxelle)