Smoking and alcohol - a mutually destructive combo

According to new research the more you smoke, the more you're likely to drink.

Researchers from Washington and Maryland University Medical schools say they have come to the conclusion that there is a connection between smoking and alcohol, and it's a mutually destructive one.

In order to examine the popular opinion that cigarette smoking prompts more drinking, the researchers specifically analyzed the relationship between cigarette smoking, drinking and alcohol-use disorders.

They say they discovered that young people who smoke cigarettes are more prone to having their brains "primed" for a greater susceptibility to alcohol addiction.

They also say smoking may have the same effect in creating addiction to other drugs.

The scientists say the tendency is most noticeable in adolescents and they believe theirs is the first study to establish a correlation between adolescent smoking and alcohol-use disorders.

Richard A. Grucza, an epidemiologist at Washington University School of Medicine and one of the study's authors, queries whether the association may be explained by the fact that smokers are heavier drinkers, or that smokers are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol.

The scientists now want to determine what causes the effect and to develop strategies to counteract it.

The research is published in the December issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.