Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in Connecticut, killing 4,700 people in our state each year. In addition, our state spends more than $1.6 billion on tobacco-related health care bills each year.

But there's a surefire way to stop this costly killer and make a significant dent in the state's budget problems at the same time -- by raising the cigarette tax.

The evidence is clear that increasing the cigarette tax is one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking and the deaths, disease and health care costs it causes. Increasing the price of cigarettes both prevents kids from starting to smoke and encourages adult smokers to quit.

As they write the state budget for the coming year, Connecticut lawmakers should vote to increase the cigarette tax by 95 cents per pack.

This strategy works. Every state that has significantly increased its cigarette tax has enjoyed substantial increases in revenue, even while reducing smoking.

Connecticut can expect a 95-cent cigarette tax increase to prevent over 11,500 kids from becoming smokers and spur over 11,000 current adult smokers to quit. That alone is a huge victory.

In addition to the enormous health benefits, there is also a revenue benefit to the state. Despite the drop in smoking rates, financial projections estimate that raising the cigarette tax in the state would generate an additional $50 million in revenue annually.

And besides being a health win and a revenue win, a higher cigarette tax is also a political win. Public opinion polls show that voters strongly support raising taxes on cigarettes.

Connecticut has made significant progress in reducing smoking, but we can do even better by increasing the cigarette tax by 95 cents per pack.

Rarely is an issue so clear cut. Increasing the cigarette tax will reduce smoking, save lives, save money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs and increase revenue to balance the state budget and fund critical programs. This should be an easy call for our lawmakers in Hartford.

Raise the tax on cigarettes by 95 cents.

Kevin O'Flaherty is the director of advocacy for the northeast region of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. He lives in Milford.