Cigarette sales dropped 19 percent and the state earned an extra $157 million in the year after the cigarette tax went up, state officials said today.

The N.C. Division of Public Health and the N.C. Department of Revenue studied the effect of a jump in taxes from five cents to 30 cents per pack starting in September 2005 through the following year. Another five cents per pack was added in July of last year.

The analysis found that every 10 percent increase in the cost of a pack of cigarettes resulted in a 4 percent to 7 percent drop in smoking rates. The largest drop was seen among young people.

At the same time, state revenue from the tax increased.

"This is good news for everyone," State Health Director Dr. Leah Devlin said in a news release. "The increased tax has improved the health of both the state's people and its coffers."

Nationwide, the average cigarette tax is $1.07 per pack.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that health care costs associated with smoking total $10.28 per pack nationwide.

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