New Cigarette Tax
By Susan Tart

Lighting up will cost you a bit more this week than it did last week. A new cigarette tax is burning holes in the wallets of North Carolina smokers. Saturday the tax per pack of cigarettes increased to 35 cents. That might seem high, but it's a bargain compared to the national average, which is almost a dollar a pack.

Legislators hope the new tax will decrease the number of smokers in the state, but Durham resident Jesse Stever says it won't stop him from smoking.

"I'll keep smoking, but I might need to switch brands before too long, because it's going to bring it up to just under four dollars a pack on my brand, and the only other place I know it's four dollars is up North and I ain't going there," Stever said.

In addition to the cigarette tax, North Carolina lawmakers also voted to increase penalties for not getting out of the way of emergency vehicles, and to offer protections for buyers of manufactured homes.