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EDITORIAL: Cigarette-tax increase presents benefits beyond revenue 

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski will have another go at raising the state's cigarette tax in order to extend health coverage to more than 100,000 uninsured children. The Oregonian reported on its editorial pages Saturday that the governor has called on legislators to revive the 84.5 cent-per-pack tax hike voters rejected last fall. This time, however, the tax increase would not be submitted to voters as a constitutional amendment. . . .

The value of a high cigarette tax is realized not so much in the new revenue it produces in the short term as in the lives and health-care dollars saved over the long haul.

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