A proposed 4-cent-per-cigarette tax increase in Missouri would raise money to pay for smoking prevention and treatment services, the Dexter Daily Statesman reported April 18.

The tax would effectively raise the price of a pack of cigarettes by 80 cents and the cost of a carton by $8. The proposal also calls for a 20-percent tax increase on other tobacco products.

The Committee for a Healthy Future is seeking voter approval for an amendment to the state Constitution to put the tax increases in effect; backers say the tax would cut tobacco consumption as well as raise money for needed services. Estimated revenues of $351 million would go into a special fund, not the general budget.

The plan calls for spending 17.5 percent of the money raised on smoking reduction and cessation and the balance on tobacco-related health services, including programs to increase health access for the poor.

Backers say a Constitutional amendment is needed to keep the money out of the hands of Missouri politicians, who have diverted all of the money from the 1998 tobacco settlement to uses other than smoking cessation.