Few tsws are so effective that you can see fesults just days after they take effect．But in the nine days since the federal cigarette tax more than doubled－to＄1.1 per pack－smokers have jammed telephone”puit lines”aeross the country seeking to kick the habit．

　　This is not a surprise to public health advocates．They’ve studied the offoct of state tax increases for years, finding that smokers, especially teong, are price sensitive, Nor is it a shock to the industry, which fiercdly fights every tax inortse．

　　The only wonder is thst so many states insist on closing their ears to the message．Tobacco taxes omprove public health, health, they raise money and most particularly, they deter people from taking up the habit as teens, which is when nearly all smokers are addicted．Yet the rate of taxation varies widely．

　　In Manhattan, for instance．Which has the highest tax in the nation, a pack of Marlboro Light Kings cos???at one drugstore Wednesdav．Charleston, S．C．where the bent-n-pack tax is the lowest in the nation．The price was＄4.78．

　　The influence is obvious．

　　In New York, hogh school smoking hit a new low in the latest surveys－13.8％, far below the mational average．By comparison, 26％ of high school students smlke in Kentucky, Other low-tax states have somolarly depressing teen-smoking records．

　　Hal Rogers, Representative from Kentucky, like those who are against high tobacco taxes, argues that the burden of the tax falls on low-income Americans”who choose to smoke．”

　　That’s true, But there is more reason in keeping future generations of low-income workers from getting hooked in the first place, As for today’s adults, if the new tax drves them to quit, tyey will have more to spend on their famliles, cut their risk of camcer and heart disease and feel better．

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