MORRISVILLE - Taxes are generally unpopular but the latest Elon University Poll finds one exception. And Pam Seamans, executive director of North Carolina Alliance for Health, says it's good news for her organization's campaign against tobacco.

"The tax that was the most popular, or the least unpopular, was a tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products," Seamans says.

The poll found more than 60 percent of North Carolinians support raising the state cigarette tax by a dollar, which Seamans says would still leave room for it to go higher.

"North Carolina's tax is $0.45 right now so raising it by a dollar would take it to $1.45," Seamans says. "That would still be under the national average of $1.54."

The same poll found a lack of tolerance for cigarettes in other areas, with more than 80 percent of respondents supporting the ban on smoking in restaurants and bars.

"This high polling number is very consistent with other polls that we have seen," Seamans says. "People like to eat in environments where smoking is not permitted."

And Seamans says the poll shows that there is even an interest in increasing smoking bans to all work environments.

"Seventy-four percent said they would support additional regulations," she says.

Seamans says state law does not currently cover all workplaces, although many cities and towns have their own laws regarding where people may and may not smoke.