Punishing the people who are suffering from addiction with a tax isn't ideal.

I think we might be better off with a national tax that goes towards funding the healthcare necessary to support people moving off. Want to stop smoking? Here's a clinic that will work with you to develop a plan, supply you with materials, provide the counseling and community support, all for free.

And sure, if you've got that in place, dial up the costs to onboard into smoking. Prevent new addicts through price and regulation, address existing addicts with huge outpouring of support. It's expensive up front, but gets us in a healthy state long term.