But an increase to $2 a pack would raise an estimated $48.7 million. The temptation would be to use this money for things other than prevention or health care. That means the state would be even more dependent on cigarettes and on people continuing to smoke them — a rather odd public policy conundrum.

Here's a suggestion: Raise the tax to $2 and put the money it generates (minus what is needed to fund current prevention and control programs) into a permanent fund. Use only the interest from this fund for general state purposes. This is already done with funds from school trust lands and oil and gas revenues.

That way, if everyone stops smoking, it won't bring government to a halt. And, in the meantime, the price of a pack will begin to make people think twice about what they're buying.

Jay Evensen is editor of the Deseret News editorial page. E-mail: even@desnews.com. Visit his blog at www.deseretnews.com/blogs.