even former federal health secretaries joined on Wednesday to protest menthol’s special treatment in a tobacco bill pending in Congress.

The seven, from Democratic and Republican administrations, faxed a letter to members of the Senate and House of Representatives demanding that menthol-flavored cigarettes be banned just like various other cigarette flavorings the legislation would outlaw.

One of the former secretaries, Joseph A. Califano Jr., said the legislation was “clearly putting black children in the back of the bus.” He was referring to menthol cigarettes as being the choice of three out of four black smokers and being frequently preferred by young smokers.

An estimated 80 percent of African-American teenage smokers pick menthol brands, the letter said.

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Facing reduced productivity and higher insurance costs from people who smoke, many employers are deciding not to hire tobacco users. Sarasota County, which also must contain these costs, has adopted a tobacco-free hiring policy that will promote a healthier work force and maintain our responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.

This is a proactive effort to manage the impact of the county’s rising health-care costs, which are paid by taxpayers and range from $2 million to $3 million a year. The policy wasn’t adopted hastily. We’ve considered it for five or six years while we gathered data and considered the legal ramifications. A 1995 Florida Supreme Court decision, that has remained unchallenged, established the precedent that employers can ban smokers from employment.

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Menthol cigarettes should be banned, like other flavored tobacco, in legislation now before Congress, seven former U.S. health secretaries said.

A provision allowing menthol, the most popular flavor for cigarettes, is “a loophole big enough for a herd of wild animals to romp through and trample the health of African-Americans,” according to a letter sent today to lawmakers.

Almost 75 percent of African-American smokers use menthol cigarettes, according to the letter, organized by former health secretaries Joseph A. Califano Jr. and Louis Sullivan. The exemption for menthol flavoring was one of the compromises that produced the legislation, which is backed by Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA, the nation’s biggest tobacco maker, as well as health groups critical of the industry.

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Smokers on Long Island smoldered at the cash register Tuesday as they paid about $7 for a pack of premium cigarettes in the state that now has the country’s highest cigarette taxes.

The average price of each pack statewide, which had been $5.82, rose 21 percent with the $1.25 tax hike. In New York City, which adds its own tax, a pack of Marlboros or Camels costs more than $10 in some stores.

Smokers said they felt singed by the increase, which brings the state tax to $2.75 per pack. That compares to $2.58 in New Jersey, the state with the second-highest tax. At $2, Connecticut ranks fifth, and Pennsylvania’s $1.35 ranks 20th. (South Carolina, the lowest, charges 7 cents.)

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PENNSYLVANIA — New York smokers are buying lots of cigarettes in Pennsylvania.

“I actually make trips down here once a week or so,” said Savona resident Tim Soporowski.

“I always buy my cigarettes in Pennsylvania. Simply because it is a little cheaper,” said Big Flats resident Dave Kenyon.

Now it’s a lot cheaper, since a new tax raised the price of a pack in New York by $1.25 to some $5, $6 and even $7 a pack.

“It’s crazy,” Soporowski said.

“We don’t like it,” said Phyllis Gurnsey, a Campbell resident.

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METROPOLIS, Ill. —  Illinois’ adopted home of Superman considers cigarettes an enemy, and it’s ready to pay a handsome reward to any city employee who can vanquish their smoking habit.

The southern Illinois tourist trap said it will pay city workers $1,000 apiece if they can stay off smokes for a year.

Mayor Billy McDaniel said the city has been looking for a way to get its employees off cigarettes for good. So far, McDaniel said, 15 people have signed up for the program that began Monday.

The plan calls for random nicotine tests to identify cheaters. Nicotine patches and gum will not affect those tests.

McDaniel hopes the program leads to healthier employees, lower insurance premiums and lower labor costs.

While some New Yorkers have vowed to quit smoking now that a pack of cigarettes soared past $8, others said fughedaboutit.

Sherrilyn Griffith, of the Upper East Side, had one last cigarette in the pack in her pocket Monday, a smoke she vowed would be her last as the higher state tax kicks in today. She never thought about quitting before, but the new tax cemented her decision.

“That’s why I’m quitting,” said Griffith, a 23-year-old mother of two who spends $50 to $60 a week on cigarettes. “$8 a pack is really too much.”

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NEW YORK STATE — The next three to six months will be critical for mom-and-pop convenience stores dealing with higher cigarette taxes and slumping sales.

Starting Tuesday, the cost of a pack of cigarettes will jump $1.25 because the state tax is increasing from $1.50 per pack to $2.75 per pack.

“The timing is as bad as it can possibly be,” James Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, said Friday.

People who smoke and don’t quit to protest the higher taxes will find cheaper sources for their cigarettes, including Indian reservations and border states with significantly lower taxes, he said.

“The primary concern all along for us has been the reservation tax evasion and how that is going to dramatically affect sales in convenience stores,” Calvin said.

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TRENTON - Starting Sunday, cigarettes that don’t self-extinguish when no one puffs on them will not be sold in New Jersey, the state Department of Community Affairs announced Friday.

The new rule is part of a fire-safety law passed by the Legislature and signed into law in May 2007.

Improper use of smoking material caused 204 house fires in New Jersey in 2006 and accounted for 14 percent of all civilian fire fatalities, according to the DCA Division of Fire Safety.

The new cigarettes will put themselves out if no one takes a puff, thus reducing the risk of fires caused when a smoker falls asleep with the tobacco still lit, said DCA Commissioner Joseph Doria.

Hoping to curb smoking among teenagers and prevent a lifetime of nicotine dependence, Baltimore officials are proposing a citywide ban on the sale of individual small cigars, sometimes called “blunts” or “loosies,” in neighborhood shops.

If the public health proposal becomes law, Baltimore could be the first municipality in the country to attempt to improve residents’ overall health by limiting their access to the potentially cancer-causing cigars.

“Hopefully, we can look back and know that we protected young people from ever wanting to smoke,” said Mayor Sheila Dixon, who attended a news conference at City Hall yesterday to announce the proposal. The ban could be enacted relatively quickly by the Health Department, which has regulatory authority to protect citizens’ health and safety.

The cigars, which have been popularized by hip-hop stars, pack more tobacco than a cigarette and come in flavors such as cherry and grape that appeal to a young crowd. It is this dangerous mingling of status symbol, sweet taste and high tobacco content that has city officials worried.