The study, which is based on an analysis of national data, is the first to show how much cigarette tax increases affect adolescents who smoke every day.

According to study author Lan Liang, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois at Chicago, even a slight increase in cigarette taxes can prevent teenagers from becoming heavier smokers.

Researchers examined 1992, 1993 and 1994 data from the Monitoring the Future Surveys of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students. They found that teenagers living in states where taxes increased the cost of a pack of cigarettes above $2.32 were 13 percent less likely to smoke any cigarettes than teenagers living in areas with prices below $2.07.

In addition, the study showed that teens living in the high-tax areas were 30 percent less likely to smoke a pack or more a day when compared with teens in low-tax areas.

"When the amount of money regular smokers spend on cigarettes constitutes a larger share of their budgets, economic theory predicts that they will be more responsive to price," said Liang.

The study is published in the February issue of Nicotine & Tobacco Research, the official peer-reviewed quarterly journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.

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