HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Hundreds of Connecticut teen-agers rallied outside the state Capitol in support of anti-smoking legislation Wednesday, the same day that a cigarette tax increase took effect.

The annual youth event was sponsored by MATCH, a coalition of anti-smoking groups. State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Senate Majority Leader George Jepsen, a Democratic candidate for governor, spoke to the students from the steps of the Capitol. Blumenthal warned the students about tobacco company lobbyists working to defeat anti-smoking legislation, including a bill that would allow cities and towns to regulate smoking in public places. ''There are lobbyists in the building behind me who are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to keep Connecticut smoking,'' Blumenthal said. Corey Ziman, a 13-year-old from Orange, held a sign that said, ''Stop 2nd hand smoke.'' ''I want there to be no smoking in public places,'' Ziman said. ''I want to stop smoking in as many places as possible.'' The new state tax on a pack of cigarettes increased Wednesday from 50 cents to $1.11, the third-highest in the nation.

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