Smokers may now think twice about lighting up as a $1 tobacco user fee went into effect today, July 1.

The fee was enacted by the Florida Legislature, which had a $3 billion budget shortfall in this year’s session, and is meant to stop people from smoking while raising much needed revenue for the state.

Standard packs of 20 cigarettes will increase by $1, and a 60 percent surcharge will be added to the wholesale price of chewing tobacco or pipe tobacco.

Cigars were not included in the fee after Florida’s $2.1 billion cigar industry lobbied to have them removed from the bill’s language.

Even without revenue from cigar sales, the fee will generate an estimated $950 million, said Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, sponsor of the bill.

While the purpose of the fee is to deter teenagers from smoking and to decrease statewide health costs related to tobacco use, local smokers said they are going to smoke whether or not the price of a pack increases.

Many Floridians may want to quit but do not have the emotional support or the financial resources to purchase cessation aids.

The Florida Quitline at (877) U-CAN-NOW (822-6669) connects people with free counseling sessions and helps smokers choose cessation aids. Trained counselors, who speak English and Spanish, assist anyone who contacts the toll-free line.

Local convenience stores posted signs advising people to stock up on cigarettes before the user fee took effect.

The average pack will increase from approximately $5 to $6, and cartons will increase by as much as $10 each.