Junior Kyle Ulrich avoids the numerous convenience stores within feet of his residence hall at Harshman Dunbar and ventures across town to purchase three packs of Smoker’s Choice cigarettes at Cut Rate Tobacco. While the store offers the same cigarette products like Marlboro, Camel and Newport, Ulrich primarily buys packs there because of the discounted prices offered. Ulrich paid $7.32 for the three packs, saving nearly 75 cents a pack at Cut Rate Tobacco compared to a convenience store or a gas station selling the same cigarettes. And with the recent hike in taxes toward all tobacco products, Ulrich is trying to save as much money as possible while still getting his nicotine fix. ‘When you are a college student, and don’t have enough money, it’s better off to go to a discount store,’ Ulrich said. Ulrich, who already cut down on about half the amount he smokes, is just one of millions of smokers agonizing over yet another increase from the federal government. Earlier this month, the national government raised the federal tax rate of cigarettes from 39 cents to $1.01, the highest increase of tobacco products in the United States’ history. Smokers purchasing any tobacco related product in Ohio will have to pay the new federal tax along with Ohio’s state tax of $2.26, making many popular cigarette brands over $5. New York ranks first in the nation at $3.76 in tax prices. With this tax hike, the government is placing smokers at a crossroads to either give up a costly habit or continue to feed into their addiction. ‘I’m actually trying to quit smoking because the prices are ridiculous,’ senior Trista Evanitcka said. Evanitcka said smoking helps her deal with the stresses related to school, and with the semester only weeks away from concluding, lighting and smoking a cigarette becomes as much a habit as studying textbooks and staying up late. ‘I definitely plan on quitting as soon as school is done,’ she said. Evanitcka is not alone by forgoing cigarettes due to the higher prices. ‘I try to cut back because I can’t afford buying a pack of cigarettes every three days,’ junior Clair Lephart said. While students like Evanitcka and Lephart said they plan on quitting, it will be much harder to stop a harmful habit due to the addictive nature of nicotine. ‘I think a lot of people are talking about quitting, but when you are a smoker, it’s a difficult thing to do,’ Evanitcka said. According to Dr. Mary Ellen Benedict, professor of economics at the University, tobacco is a highly-inelastic product.’ If tobacco prices rise, some smokers may stop their purchases, but the majority will still smoke or use the product due to it becoming almost a necessity for smokers to have. ‘If you are still addicted to cigarettes, and even though [the price] goes up a dollar or two, you still buy it because you need it,’ Benedict said. Evanitcka, who is also a Circle K employee, has not seen a decrease in customers purchasing cigarettes. However, she has noticed people avoiding the higher priced cigarettes and looking for any discount made available to them. Some smokers have just given up buying cigarettes altogether, but find another alternative instead of quitting cold turkey. Nick Wray is one of those smokers, and might be starting a new trend. After smoking a pack a day for seven years, Wray, 27, stopped paying $5 a pack and purchased an electronic cigarette two weeks ago. ‘When $5 got here, someone had a suitable alternative,’ Wray said. ‘We are already in the future and this is another part of life moving into the digital age.’ The electronic cigarette acts like a regular cigarette and uses a battery to charge the look-a-like to heat it up. The only toxin contained within the electronic cigarette is nicotine, compared to the over 400 toxins in a traditional cigarette, Wray said. As long as the battery is charged and there is liquid nicotine remaining, Wray said he can smoke for however long he wants to in a much healthier way. Wray will save about $1,000 a year from switching to electronic cigarettes and potentially a few years on his life. ‘ ‘When they jack the prices up $6 a pack, [smokers] just should find an alternative,’ Wray said. ‘The future is now and I’m willing to jump on that.’