This is so wrong for two reasons.

First, government taxation is for raising revenue.  Not for manipulating behavior.  We put ourselves on a slippery slope toward totalitarianism each time we let politicians use taxes to coerce we citizens into the sort of behavior politicians find acceptable (being non-smokers in this instance).  If smoking is such an awful thing that we must use the power of government to stop it then let’s pass a ban.  But if there isn’t enough public support at hand to support such a ban then the government should refrain from other efforts to stop smoking.

Second, why is smoking an issue for the government to tackle in the first place?  Certainly smoking is not healthy, but in this modern age everyone already knows that.  We’ve all seen the endless public service announcements.  The warnings are right on the package.  If people are choosing to smoke despite the health consequence that’s their decision which they are free to make as free citizens.