State lawmakers once again have taken a pass on an effort to increase the state's paltry cigarette tax. That measure would have helped prevent teens from smoking while bolstering health care for the poor.

Lawmakers' refusal to support a cigarette tax hike leaves the state with the shameful distinction of having the lowest cigarette tax in the nation. The clear message is that South Carolina's leaders have little desire to reduce the deadly smoking habit in the state.

Granted, the effort to raise the cigarette tax progressed further than ever before in the S.C. House. A House Ways and Means subcommittee recently approved two bills to increase the tax -- but the full committee quickly killed those initiatives Wednesday.

Critics were right in saying lawmakers sided with Big Tobacco over the interests of children. Other states have successfully cut the rate of teen smoking by raising cigarette taxes. A higher tax tends to encourage smokers to quit or avoid taking up the habit at all. Higher taxes cut the rate of adult smoking but are most effective in deterring teens from smoking.

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South Carolina's tax on cigarettes, at 7 cents, remains the lowest in the nation. The national average is 92 cents a pack. The state loses 5,900 lives to smoking-related illnesses each year, according to the S.C. Tobacco Collaborative. The health-care costs ($1 billion) of many smokers are borne by the state.

One of the proposed bills would have raised the tax by 32 cents. Another bill would have increased the tax by 30 cents plus 5 cents more in each of the next two years for a total of 40 cents.

The bills certainly faced an uphill fight in an election year, but supporters are to be commended for pushing the initiatives. They were motivated by a desire to save the lives of more South Carolinians. Revenues could have brought in millions of dollars to provide health care for low-income South Carolinians.

Revenues from the 32-cent tax bill would have helped small businesses and low-income families pay for health insurance. The other bill earmarked 4 percent of the tax for youth smoking prevention and cessation. That's an important expenditure in a state that sets aside so little money to prevent smoking.

Even some of the most pro-smoking states in the nation have raised cigarette taxes in recent years. Perhaps South Carolina lawmakers can find the courage next year to follow their lead, raising the cigarette tax and thereby helping to reduce teen smoking and boosting the availability of health care for low-income South Carolinians.