When State College resident Bill Mobbin was 13 years old, his life revolved around hanging out at a local video arcade and smoking cigarettes in an alley. Now, fifteen years later, cigarette smoking is the only factor in his life that has stayed the same.

"I smoke the same brand and I buy them at the same store twice a day," Mobbin said. Since he graduated from college in 1990, Mobbin said he smokes about two to three packs of cigarettes a day.

But in light of President Clinton's proposal to increase cigarette taxes by 75 cents, Mobbin said he would be forced to quit smoking because he will need the extra money to fund his wedding next spring.

As the only tax increase proposed in Clinton's budget, the 99 cent tax will be used to pay for universal health care.

"I find it kind of depressing -- smoking has been an addiction, but it has gotten me through my first relationship, high school, my parents' divorce and college," Mobbin said. "I always thought it would be a bad habit that would never die."

Mobbin said he spends about $30 a week on cigarettes, but if the tax is implemented, he predicts it will cost him about $42 a week to keep up the same habit.

"I can't . . . afford that," he said. Mobbin said he would have to quit smoking entirely because it would be too difficult to control how many packs he would smoke a day.

Nonsmoker Melissa Sherman (sophomore-division of undergraduate studies) said her friends that smoke ignore potential health risks, but the threat of a possible cost increase might cause them to quit.

"People have known for years that they can get cancer from cigarettes but let it slide until they have to pay more," Sherman said.

According to the Division of Health Statistics and Research from the Pennsylvania Cancer Control Program in Harrisburg, lung cancer caused the greatest number of cancer deaths in the state --7,774 out of 29,677 total cancer deaths. The statistics were based on a 1990 study.

But regardless of the cost, Sherman said she thinks addicts will continue to purchase cigarettes without even looking at the price.

"If they feel they need cigarettes --they'll pay the price," Sherman said.

She added that smokers should contribute to the health care cost because they are often the ones who develop lung-related cancer and heart disease.

Although the Tobacco Taverne, 256 Calder Way, would not immediately be affected by Clinton's proposed increase, Donn Wonderling, owner of Tobacco Taverne, said the tax would ultimately affect the costs of cigars and pipe tobacco as well.

Wonderling said he thinks Clinton's plan to fund health care through an increase of cigarette taxes could backfire because when smokers stop buying cigarettes, the tax base will only erode.