Any sin tax like this must be fairly universal. Like gas taxes, cities cannot afford to tax at a higher rate on their own. Now, objectively, should they go up to a level that pays for society's cost for that behavior? Absolutely. Of course, the societal cost of smoking is peanuts when compared to the societal cost of alcohol, since alcohol taxes would have to fund much of the criminal justice system. Offloading criminal justice taxes onto alcohol could lead to a lower general sales or value added tax - and the alcohol tax should also be set to include any implicit GST or VAT contribution. Would that get anyone sober? Probably not, since alcoholism does not respond elasticly to price - although alcoholics may shift from top shelf brands to lower quality products. (Less single malt scotch, more VAT 169).