Could Taxing Cigarettes Help Prevent Binge Drinking?

Alcohol and smoking seem to go hand in hand as both can be relaxing social activities done together, and previous studies have shown that heavy smokers may also be more likely to drink more. Yet over time, this can lead to both drug and alcohol abuse.

Fortunately, according to researchers from the Yale University School of Medicine, they found out that taxing cigarettes can actually help prevent heavy drinking.

"Smoking and heavy drinking co-occur at alarmingly high rates," said Sherry McKee, associate professor of psychiatry 
at Yale University School of Medicine as well as corresponding author for the study, via Science Recorder. "Tobacco can enhance the subjective effects of alcohol and has been shown to increase the risk for heavy and problematic drinking. Smokers drink more frequently and more heavily than non-smokers, and are substantially more likely than non-smokers to meet criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence. The co-occurrence of smoking and drinking is of particular clinical significance given evidence that health consequences exponentially increase with combined versus singular abuse of alcohol and tobacco."

For the study, researchers looked at data compiled from interviews of 21,473 participants who were a part of the National Epidemiological survey on Alcohol and Related conditions, which was conducted by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. All of the participants regularly consumed alcohol and researched focused on the effects of cigarette taxations that took place from 2001 to 2002 and again from 2004 to 2005.

They found that when states increased taxation, they were also able to decrease alcohol intake. It was also noted that higher taxes on cigarettes affected high-risk groups the most, such as young males from lower-income families. Researchers are hopeful that this could lead to positive intervention programs that could possibly reduce alcohol and drug consumption.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that  43.8 million people, or 19 percent of all adults (aged 18 years or older), in the United States smoke cigarettes, with cigarette smoking more common among men than women. They also estimate that 51 percent of adults 18 years of age and over are current regular drinkers (at least 12 drinks in the past year).

The study was published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.