Cigarette smoking isn’t just deadly to the body, but it can become fatal to the wallet, especially when high tax rates are added on.

“They are really expensive,” said prenursing freshman Jacob Diljak, who buys one pack a week costing about $7.50. “I mean, when I’m trying to save money for college, it plays a big factor.”

On Wednesday, Howard Koh, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, visited the University of Michigan campus to announce a push by the government for universities to adopt campuswide smoking bans.

ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, has formally supported such a policy, but administrators have not adopted it.

Michigan has a $2 per pack tax rate, which is 11th highest in the U.S, according to the Federation of Tax Administrators.

Charles Ballard, an economics professor, said that high cigarette tax rates might not stop current smokers, but it could deter young potential smokers from picking up the habit.

“When smokers or potential smokers are faced with higher prices, they would be expected to buy fewer cigarettes,” Ballard said in an email. “A big part of the effect of higher prices would be to dissuade young people from starting in the first place.”

According to surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the cigarette tax affects families that make less than $50,000 a year, a bracket most graduate students and recent alumni find themselves in.

The current tax rate in Michigan has been in effect since 2004, when the rate was bumped from $1.25 to the $2 rate it is now.

The state with the highest tax is New York with $4.35 and the lowest is Virginia with 30 cents per pack. The median for the nation is $1.50 per pack.