TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ― Supporters of a measure that would place a $1 per-pack tax on cigarettes in Florida may have won another battle in Tallahassee but the war is far from over.

Tuesday the measure was approved in a state Senate committee, but the increase is far from final approval, and even if it does make it to the Governor’s desk, Charlie Crist has said he’ll likely veto it.

Currently, the state taxes cigarettes at a rate of 34-cents a pack; under the proposal the tax would increase to $1.34 per pack.

Supporters feel the best way to lower the number of smokers in the state, and prevent teens from picking up the habit, is to raise the cost to a prohibitive price. The American Cancer Society estimates that 123-thousand Floridians might stop smoking as a result of a $1 increase.

Many Republicans in the House are dead set against an increase in the cigarette tax which they say would affect nearly 17 percent of adult Floridians and 15 percent of teens who smoke.