Duncan backs doubling cigarette tax to $2 a pack

Gubernatorial candidate Doug Duncan, the Montgomery County executive, on Tuesday endorsed doubling the state cigarette tax to $2 a pack as a way to pay for $190 million in health care enhancements for the uninsured.

“I recognize some people may have a problem with” support of a tax increase, Duncan said, but “I?ll support a tax that saves lives rather than one that destroys lives” ? a reference to Gov. Robert Ehrlich?s push for slot machine gambling. He called Ehrlich?s health care achievements all “rhetoric and press releases.”