The first thing Alice does in the morning is reach for a cigarette.

Key points: The Federal Government will increase the tobacco excise

The Federal Government will increase the tobacco excise Smokers say the increase in price won't act as a deterrent

Smokers say the increase in price won't act as a deterrent Anti-smoking campaigners are coming up with new approaches to help those addicted to cigarettes

The 28-year-old Tasmanian early childhood educator picked up the habit in her teens.

As a "full-time" smoker who burns through half a packet a day, Alice — who preferred that her surname not be used — will have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years on the habit she can't get rid of.

"I would love to be a non-smoker. It has this hold on my life," she said.

It bothers Alice that the $350 monthly habit is chewing into her savings.

"I think about how much money I could save. And when I have [quit], I noticed how much money I had left a week — hundreds of dollars," she said.

But Alice's many efforts to quit smoking have lapsed every time — mainly due to alcohol.

"The biggest reason of me getting back into smoking is if I'm out drinking or drunk I'll have a cigarette. It's sort of a spiral from there," she said.

"If I'm drinking alcohol, I'm probably smoking twice as much. I could probably smoke about 20 cigarettes in a night of drinking.

"It's like a cheat day, someone who's on a diet. They'll have one bite of a cake — 'oh well, diet's over'."

'Tremendous' financial burden

Today, the Federal Government will increase the tobacco excise by 12.5 per cent, and again on September 1, 2020.

Abby Smith, the director of Cancer Council's anti-smoking campaign Quit Tasmania, said she hoped the state with one of the highest rates of smokers will benefit from the price hike.

"A pack-a-day smoker will [now] spend over $10,000 a year, which is a tremendous burden for some people," she said.

"So, we're hoping that a lot of people will be thinking about quitting."

Coinciding with the tax increase, the Cancer Council will launch the Think campaign that deviates from previous "scare" approaches.

"Generally, campaigns really are quite negative and hard-hitting, and this campaign really challenges people who smoke to think about why they're doing it," Ms Smith said.

"Is it the nicotine addiction? Is it that the first thing they want, within five minutes of waking up, is a cigarette?"

Ms Smith said that most people already knew they should quit — the campaign's councillors would be able to help them succeed.

Some anti-smoking campaigns could be quite "hard-hitting". ( ABC News: Jessica Hayes )

"We're not telling people that they should quit for health reasons because it's going to cause cancer," she said.

"What we're trying to do is to get them to take the time, when they're smoking, to think about why they're actually having that cigarette in the first place.

"A lot of people relapse multiple times before they quit successfully, but that's OK. The point is to try to make that attempt."

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 30 seconds 30 s Anti-smoking ad urges smokers to think about their habit

'You find the money'

Alice knows the cycle of relapsing all to well. But when she does stumble, she tries not to dwell on it too much.

"I can't beat myself up over it. I've been a smoker now for years and years and years, and it's so addictive. It's one of the most addictive things there is," she said.

"I feel as if as long as I keep trying, I'm not going to be too hard on myself."

As for the excise increase, that won't stop her.

"You find the money. Finding money for the cigarettes has never been an issue for me," she said.

"I just don't really care how much it costs, which is bad because it's so fricking expensive."