It’s amazing how far the U.S. has come in the past 40 years when it comes to smoking. During the 1960s it wasn’t unusual to see a good number of people smoking anywhere and everywhere. These days, smokers are a dying breed (both literally and figuratively).

They clutch their cigarettes not only for a nicotine fix, but also as a symbol of defiance to all those politically correct do-gooders who look upon smoking as a mortal sin. If the overall anti-smoking environment is not enough for smokers to think twice about continuing their habit, then maybe another hike in cigarette taxes would do the trick.

In 2005, the N.C. government raised the tax to 35 cents a pack, giving us the seventh-lowest cigarette taxes in the nation. This was after we pushed it up to a nickel in 1991. The national average is 90 cents a pack.

Public health is more important than big tobacco. Unfortunately, there are not huge amounts of money to lobby for public health, and so we have to do it ourselves. I don’t like smelling like smoke every time I go out, and I don’t want to have to pay more for health care because of smokers.

I’ve never understood smoking anyways. Not to sound like a “Truth” commercial, but I am failing to see any of the benefits. It’s expensive. It smells bad. It gives you cancer and makes your teeth yellow — not my idea of a good time.

A cigarette tax increase is a great solution for North Carolina. It has strong public support and would raise much-needed revenue and reduce health care costs caused by smoking. Most smokers would claim that this is merely an attempt by the government to slowly kill off smoking because it can’t make it illegal.

Furthermore, they might claim that this is merely a money grab, a way to get more money for the state without upsetting most of its constituents. Those who make such claims would not actually be that far off in either case, except in the area of motive.

The government has every right to legislate the tax hike to discourage smoking because it detrimentally affects public health. The harms of secondhand smoking have been so well documented that the national consciousness has become saturated by them.

Even more important is the amount that smoking-related illnesses cost the state. If no one smoked, the cases of lung cancer and emphysema would plummet and save the state millions upon millions of dollars. Unlike other illnesses that result from things outside of one’s control, such as genetics or just plain bad luck, illnesses that result from smoking are likely the product of a conscious choice.

Many people think that if we raise the cigarette taxes again, then it will put people out of work. This is not true. We would still be in the lower quarter of cigarette tax, and people would still come to North Carolina to buy cigarettes.

Discouraging smoking is a noble goal in itself, which is why legislators need to raise the cigarette tax once again, but even if it does not deter a single smoker, the revenue brought in would help relieve some of the financial pressure on the state’s medical programs.

If smokers wish to continue to smoke, knowing that they are hurting the health of the public and hurting themselves to the point where they will need quite a bit of medical treatment in the future, that is their prerogative. Just don’t get mad when the state charges you through the nose for it.

E-mail Amy your thoughts on cigarette taxes at viewpoint@technicianonline.com.