Young adults who are casual smokers are 16 times more likely than nonsmokers to be hazardous drinkers and five times more likely to have alcohol-use disorders (AUDs), a U.S. study finds.
Sherry A. McKee, an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine, and her colleagues analyzed data on 5,838 adults, aged 18 to 25, who provided information about their current smoking behavior, weekly consumption of alcohol, frequency of alcohol use, frequency of binge-drinking behavior, rates of hazardous drinking, and rates of AUD diagnoses.
"We anticipated that the associations between alcohol use and smoking would be greatest in non-daily smokers but were surprised by the degree of the associations," McKee said in journal news release about the study. "While casual smoking was more common in college students, the relationships between smoking and drinking behavior were the same for young adults whether they were students or not."
McKee noted that most states have implemented smoking bans that include businesses where alcohol is served.
"Research indicates that smoking bans can reduce alcohol consumption in bars, particularly among heavy drinkers," she said.
2 comments:
I found it interesting how the smoking can really increase people's drinking habbits. I always thought if someone was a heavy smoker they wouldn't be a heavy drinker or visa versa because of the amount of money and the different way it affects the body. I feel as though the study didn't narrow it down alot to who the individuals they tested were so it would be interesting to see if there study was college students who are 18-25 and party or people working full time, or even un-employed people.
Thats too bad that smoking can actually increase drinking. I feel as though people that get hooked easily like smoking or drinking, are more opt to get hooked into other things- they just get addicted more easily than others. I guess your pretty much trapped if you do start smoking, and bound to be a drinker also. Although, everyone is different I'm sure.
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