Due to a recent cigarette tax increase, some University students are feeling the pinch and are having to cut back on smoking while others won’t let the tax change their habits.

In July 2005, the Ohio General Assembly raised cigarette taxes by 70 cents to be $1.25 per pack.

The tax raised the price for a pack of name brand cigarettes, including Parliament and Marlboro, to an average of $3.90 to $4.20 per pack, according to Adam Binion, cashier at Speedway in Bowling Green.

The price was between $3.35 to $3.65 before the increase.

Generic brands like Doral and Misty are now priced between $3.30 and $3.50, and value brands like Cherokee and Kingston average about $3, Binion said.

Ohio increased cigarette taxes to balance the state budget as part of tax reforms for the 2006-07 fiscal year, according to Mark Rickel, spokesman for Gov. Bob Taft.

‘These tax reforms were proposed to reduce taxes for businesses … to change Ohio’s tax code to be more reflective of the economy today,’ Rickel said, adding that the goal of the tax reforms is to create ‘a more up-to-date tax system to help the companies generating the jobs’ and to ‘attract more businesses.’

The money earned from the tax increase will help pay for state government and services, such as transportation and health and human services, Rickel said.

Even though the Ohio government believed the increase was necessary, some University students are upset about the recent increase, including Mike Burkle, junior.

‘I’m angry I guess because it costs more money to smoke,’ Burkle said.

Burkle has been forced to cut back because of the increased tax.Before the increase, Burkle smoked one pack of Camel Lights a day at $3.50 a pack, and spent about a total of $25 a week on cigarettes.

After the increase, Burkle still pays about $25 a week for cigarettes, but now only smokes an average of three packs a week.

Nick Haley, senior, is also upset about the large tax increase.’It’s like a big change right off the bat. Usually taxes change gradually,’ Haley said. ‘It’s become a bigger problem than I thought it would be.’

Haley smokes an average of five packs of Marlboro cigarettes a week and spends between $20 to $25 each week.

He has not yet cut back but said ‘eventually I’ll have to when I start running out of money.’

But not all students are upset about the increase. One student, Emily Carson, sophomore, said she has tolerated increases like this before because ‘it’s just part of life.’ Like Haley, Carson plans to cut back only if necessary.

But David Spasic, senior, has no plans to reduce how much he spends on cigarettes.’Nothing is going to stop us from smoking,’ Spasic said.Despite the increase, Ohio’s cigarette tax is still lower than taxes in neighboring states.

Michigan’s tax is $2 per pack and Pennsylvania’s tax is $1.38, said Bob Latta, Ohio Representative for District 6, which includes Bowling Green.

But compared to other states, such as West Virginia and Kentucky, Ohio’s tax is still high. The cigarette tax is 55 cents in West Virginia and 19 cents in Kentucky.

Nathan Murray, senior, has taken his own approach to the Ohio tax increase. ‘As long as the federal government keeps giving me money [in scholarships], I’m going to keep buying cigarettes,’ Murray said.