Wisconsin smokers buy fewer cigarettes but don't kick habit

A nationwide effort to make smoking both more expensive and more uncomfortable is forcing smokers to cut back, but it has not reduced the number of smokers. Tobacco purchases nationwide dropped 23 percent between 2007 and 2010, largely because the average price has increased by nearly 50 percent, according to recent figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That includes a $1.75 state tax hike in Wisconsin since 2008, driving per-pack taxes to $2.52 — the eighth-highest state tax in the nation. (WAUSAU DAILY HERALD, 11/8)