Tobacco.org

• VIDEO: Smokers fuming over Florida's cigarette tax hike  

Maria Charlton took a drag on a Kool cigarette just outside the Broward County Courthouse Tuesday, savoring one of her last smokes ever. When the state tax on cigarettes jumps a buck to $1.34 a pack Wednesday, Charlton is going cold turkey.

''I'm not paying a whole more dollar for cigarettes,'' snapped Charlton, 45, of Pembroke Pines. ``It's not worth it to me.''

Smokers like Charlton are feeling picked on lately. The 294 percent increase in the state excise tax follows a 159 percent increase in the federal cigarette tax, from about 39 cents to $1.01 a pack, on April 1. That's in addition to some Big Tobacco companies raising prices by more than 40 cents a pack earlier this year. Now, with the latest hike, smokers will see some of their favorite name-brand smokes costing $5 to $6 or more a pack.

Smokers can no longer dodge the tax by buying cigarettes on an Indian reservation, either. Under the new law, nontribe members buying smokes on an Indian reservation have to pay the full tax.

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