BOSTON - Advocates and legislators launched an effort today to raise the state’s cigarette tax by $1 per pack.

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, D-Boston, is planning to file legislation to hike the $1.51-per-pack tax to generate $152 million a year to pay for health care. If approved, the $1 increase would be the fourth hike in the cigarette tax in the last 15 years.

State Rep. Rachel Kaprielian, D-Watertown, a supporter of the tax, and other advocates released results of a survey of 501 voters that found 63 percent support raising the tax and 33 percent oppose it.

The telephone poll, conducted by Kiley & Co. of Boston, was taken Jan. 24 to Jan. 27 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.4 percentage points.

Rep. Ellen Story, D-Amherst, who attended the event, said she supports the proposed tax increase with reservations.

Story said an increase in the tax will boost the cost of cigarettes and discourage teenagers from smoking.

“If this will stop young people from smoking, it’s a good thing to do,” Story said.

Philip Morris International, a cigarette manufacturer and a subsidiary of the Altria Group of New York, also began reaching out to reporters today to oppose the proposed tax increase in Massachusetts.

William R. Phelps, a spokesman for Philip Morris, said cigarette tax increases tend to fall short of projections for raising revenues.

Facing high taxes, smokers travel to nearby states to buy cigarettes at a lower price or they turn to the Internet, according to Phelps.

If Massachusetts raises the tax by $1, the cost of a pack of cigarettes would jump to $6.63 per pack, Phelps said.

In New Hampshire, where the cigarette tax is $1.08, a pack of cigarettes costs $3.76, a difference that might drive smokers in Massachusetts over the border to save nearly $3 per pack, according to Phelps.

“We oppose it,” Phelps said. “We feel like this is a trend that is unfair.”

DiMasi, during a recent press conference, said his bill would dedicate the tax increase to help pay for the state’s 2006 health care reform law.

Currently, any cigarette tax money must go to the general fund, according to a spokesman for the state Department of Revenue.

The proposed tax increase may receive a vote at the end of next month when the state House of Representatives debates its version of the $29 billion state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick has said he is open to the proposal.

Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, said yesterday she wants to use up to $25 million from the tax increase to put into effect a statewide system of electronic medical records. Doctors would have to demonstrate competency in the technology.

The state currently raises $438 million from the cigarette tax.

The tax in Massachusetts is now ranked No. 15 in the nation. The state briefly boasted the highest cigarette tax in the country after increasing it by 75 cents during a fiscal crisis in 2002.

If it increases by $1, it will be the second highest in the country, trailing New Jersey at $2.58 per pack.