TRENTON, N.J. - A New Jersey lawmaker wants to raise the taxes on all non-cigarette tobacco products to the same level as the state??s cigarette excise tax, NJ Spotlight reports. Currently, the tax on cigarettes is $2.70 per pack, the sixth highest in the United States.

"The state still has some elements of smoking cessation programs in place but they are a shadow of their former selves," said state Sen. Joseph F. Vitale. "It is not as though the state isn??t interested and doesn??t care. It does some things but not nearly what it needs to do."

Vitale, who chairs the state Senate Health Committee, will push for passage of a tobacco tax hike with the 2013 state budget. New Jersey lawmakers considered raising the tobacco tax on non-cigarettes in the fall, but nothing came of the bills.