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Gov. plans cigarette tax raise By DIRK VANDERHART The State News Smokers might have to pay more to calm their cravings in the future, as Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Tuesday she plans to propose raising Michigan's cigarette tax from $1.25 to $2 per pack. The governor said the proposal could raise an estimated $295 million in extra revenue for a Michigan budget currently facing a $1.3 billion deficit while deterring Michigan citizens from smoking. "If we really want to get a handle on health care, we need to deter kids from smoking," Granholm said during a news conference. "Over 90 percent of adults who now smoke say they started when they were children." Granholm indicated that the additional revenues would be used mainly to make up for the loss of Medicaid funding from the federal government in the 2005 budget. "This is merely to replace money for health care, and it has a public policy basis because, in our Medicaid budget, we spend $881 million per year on smoking-related illnesses," she said. "Forty percent of those Medicaid recipients are smokers." The cigarette tax was last raised in August 2002, when it increased to $1.25 from 75 cents. While the proposal would give the state more money, some local merchants are afraid it would drive their businesses to ruin. "We're going to pretty much be shut out of business," said Zoran Panjkovic, who works at Smoke House II Discount Tobacco Center, 5735 S. Cedar St. in Lansing. He said the price of cigarettes in Michigan already is high, and increasing it would be unnecessary. "Who's going to pay that?" he said. Steve Smith, owner of Smoker's Oasis, 4248 W. Saginaw in Lansing, shared Panjkovic's concern that higher prices would drive away customers. "This will become an ice cream store," he said. Meanwhile, area health-advocacy groups feel the increase would be a positive measure. "We know that fewer people smoke as the result of a (price) increase," said Judy Stewart, government relations adviser for the American Cancer Society Great Lakes Division. "That's a good thing, particularly with teens." Carol Christner, director of programs and advocacy for the American Lung Association of Michigan, said Granholm's proposal would be beneficial for Michigan residents. "We are strongly supportive of anything that gives people incentive to quit a deadly habit," she said. But not all Michigan smokers would be receiving that incentive. Philosophy senior Brad Jackson purchases his cigarettes from Europe via the Internet. He said he gets Camel Lights, which currently hover at nearly $4.50 a pack in Michigan, for around $1.50 per pack. "While it sucks, I'm really not affected," he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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