Smokers Split on Proposed Georgia Cigarette Tax

A battle is heating up in Georgia over a proposed tax hike on cigarettes.
The bill, written by Savannah State Representative Ron Stephens, would raise the price of a pack by a dollar.
The money generated would then be used to close a huge budget shortfall.
Opponents of the bill say the state needs to balance its budget without raising taxes.
As News Three's Alice Massimi explains... to others, this bill is about more than money....it's about saving lives.

Larry Perry says he smoked his first cigarette when he was five years old.
He's been looking to quit for quite awhile and thinks another dollar per pack may be the push he needs.
“Well I think if they go up more I am going to quit. I’ve wanted to quit anyway so this gives me another good excuse to quit,” says Perry.
When Willie Ware started smoking they were a dollar sixty five a pack...now he pays close to five dollars...
“Hearing they might add another dollar what do you think about that?”
“That's not good. That's not good for smokers everywhere,” says Ware.
But unlike Perry ware says the jump in price wouldn't make him quit.
“The price of cigs has nothing to do with my body craving the nicotine,” explains Ware.
To Ron Williams with the American Cancer Society such a statement from a long-time smoker comes as no surprise..
“In other states where the tobacco tax has been increased it has substantially reduced the number of kids who start smoking,” citing evidence says Williams.
Hoping for the same results in Georgia Williams says the Cancer Society full supports the tax hike. Especially because part of it will help offset the medical cost of treating more than 10,000 Georgians every year who have a smoking
"We cannot subsidize healthcare on the backs of your taxpayers and my constituents anymore, we have to do this this year," says the bills author Rep. Ron Stephens.
Stephens points out that at 37 cents per pack, Georgia currently has the fifth lowest cigarette tax in the nation.
It's estimated the buck a pack tax would raise an estimated three hundred fifty-four million dollars.