Less smoke and smaller deficits might go hand- in-hand for Florida voters.
Seventy percent say they would support a $1 flat tax increase on cigarette sales, according to a survey performed by War Room Logistics, a research company based in Gainesville.
The company interviewed 712 registered Florida voters over the phone about this and other issues in late January.
An increase would be the first since 1990, when the tax was raised to 33.9 cents. The average cigarette tax amount in the U.S. is 99 cents per pack, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
State Rep. Jim Walden proposed the increase in November as a way to fight the state's budget deficit.
"Smoking is one of those things that's so bad I don't mind that people would have to pay a premium," said David Digiacomo, a student at UF.
Digiacomo doesn't smoke and suffers from respiratory infections after being around cigarettes, he said.
Naxim Uddin, owner of Gator's Tobacco, isn't worried about how the increase would affect his business.
"The government might increase the tax. What can you do, you know?" he said.
Because the tax is on the customer, it wouldn't affect him directly.
The tax, if passed, might lower cigarette sales.
But Naxim has a niche, he said.
Imported cigarettes make up a large part of Naxim's business. Several brands he offers, such as Fortuna from Spain, Dunhill from England and Mild Seven from Japan, are available in Gainesville only in his shop, he said.
Bill Blackburn, who was out smoking on a bench in Bo Diddley Community Plaza on Tuesday afternoon, doesn't like the idea of an increase.
"I guess if it happens, I'll be smoking less," he said.
