4 Ex-Surgeons General Push Higher Cigarette Tax

[NashVegas]

Or, the I Know What's Best for You Lobby strikes again:

ASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (AP) — Four former surgeons general offered a plan on Tuesday to cut cigarette smoking in part with a $2-a-pack tax increase. That move alone, they said, would prompt at least five million smokers to quit.

They also called for a nationwide counseling and support line for smokers trying to quit, an idea that was immediately accepted by Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/04/politics/04SURG.html