Tax hike could send a pack of smokes over $6 

Would you pay more than $6.50 for a pack of cigarettes? The American Cancer Society hopes you won't. Thursday, a number of local anti-smoking activists went down to the state Capitol to lobby on behalf of House Bill 39, which would increase Georgia's excise tax on a pack of cigarettes from 37 cents to $1.37.

The tax was just 12 cents until 2003, when the Georgia General Assembly passed a 25-cent increase. But health advocates believe the initial tax hike didn't go far enough. Studies show that the more cigarettes cost, the less likely people are to smoke.

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