Our fine representatives in Jackson are preparing to enter the ring for another round of sparring over the state’s tax code.

With the expectation of a thrilling, monotonous plot unseen since Rocky IV hit the silver screen, citizens are heading into the battle with a pretty good knowledge of what’s in store.

One of the primary tax issues under consideration is a tax on cigarettes. The additional tax seems like a no-brainer, unless you are a smoker, receive money from the tobacco lobby or have sworn an allegiance not to raise taxes, even if they make sense.

The cigarette tax opponents mostly seem to be hung up on the word “tax.” You see several of them allegedly have vowed to oppose any new tax. They’d be quick to tell you that a politician is only as good as his or her word.

So we propose a simple method for getting past this issue.

Don’t call it a tax; a nice-sounding euphemism is in order.

Perhaps the tobacco lobby would be more amenable to the phrase “cancer stick user fee” or an “unclean air surcharge.”

Seriously, the simple fact is that tobacco has been found to cause health problems for which the state often must pick up the medical bills. Anything the state can do to curtail use of tobacco just makes sense — no matter what you call it.