By the time someone gets to AA, drinking has or is about to ruin their lives...that’s paramount. My brother started smoking in AA. Never for a moment do I wish he were drinking instead of smoking. When the time is right, he’ll stop smoking.
Believe me, I get that. One addiction that kills you more slowly than the alcoholism. The short term survival, I get.
The longer term problem though is are you really breaking a person of addiction habits by continuing those addiction habits, just on something else less destructive but highly addictive itself? After all they have been through and may feel they have given up, now they have to give up smoking? Try that when you keep going back to a smoky AA meeting where almost everyone else is chain smoking.