NYC smokers to pay $9 a pack for smokes

NEW YORK, March 31 (UPI) -- New York City smokers will soon pay $9 or more for a pack of cigarettes, or about $275 a month for those smoking a pack a day, health officials said.

City health department officials estimate the 62-cent federal excise tax increase, which goes into effect Wednesday, will prompt about 20,000 adult New Yorkers to quit smoking -- a response that would prevent more than 6,000 premature deaths.

"Now is the time to quit," Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, New York City health commissioner, said in a statement. "Smoking is hurting your health and your wallet. For the many New Yorkers looking to save money during these tough times, this is a great way to do it. You will feel better, your families will be safer and you will save thousands of dollars."

To help New Yorkers who want to quit, the city will offer free nicotine patches at Health and Hospitals Corp. locations and other community sites across the five boroughs, or New Yorkers can call 311.

New York City has 300,000 fewer adult smokers today than in 2002 -- thanks, in part, to price increases -- and smoking has dropped 52 percent among public high school students since 2001, Frieden said.