Ranger05

Wow, I was just watching a TV program about alcohol abuse and was shocked to hear this. The doctor narrating the show claims that over 90% of active alcoholics are heavy smokers! That's shocking to me for some reason. Is there anyone here who does not smoke?? I drink fairly heavy almost every night but I've never even thought about smoking a cigarette before.

BillyWeaver

I smoke... Unfortunately

Ranger05

Makes perfect sense I guess. Addiction is addiction and smokes are very easy to get addicted to I would imagine.

Fandy

I quit 20 yrs ago. prior to that i smoked 2.5 packs a day.

Image101

Guess i'm one of the 10%, heh. Been through the wringer with almost every drug you could think of but I never liked nicotine (or the smell of cigarettes).

sunrise1

I too never picked up cigarettes. There were such wonderfully exciting alternatives to play with back then.

babycat

Always been a non smoker here.

Pock89

I'm guilty of smoking. Actually started smoking MORE once I stopped drinking.
Tackle one addiction at a time I guess.

Skandi

Drinking made me enjoy smoking a lot more.

bryangt

When I first tried to quit drinking on my own, like an idiot I started smoking. Now I want to quit. Not a heavy smoker--bout a pack a week..still a nasty habit that I never liked.

LotusBlossom

I quit smoking. I replaced smoking with really heavy drinking. Lol.

I remember quite vividly the following thought when I quit smoking (I have asthma pretty bad and my chest was beginning to hurt me pretty severely):

"My lungs will give out fairly quickly if I don't give this up. My liver? Perfectly healthy. I'll just drink until that gives out...which will be a while. Bottoms up!"

Never looked back...until I put the last drink down. Funny thing is...when I put the last drink down...I still didn't look back.

Deserto

While I smoke, the 90% statistic seems like BS to me. I'm sure alcoholics smoke more than the rest of the population... but not by that much.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics, etc.

Update: Ok, I stand corrected: "Between 80 and 95 percent of alcoholics smoke cigarettes, a rate that is three times higher than the general population, and 70 percent of alcoholics are heavy smokers compared with just 10 percent of the population."

Ranger05

I thought the same thing deserto. I was like there's no way those stats are accurate. Then I looked on-line and found similar stats. I was stunned.

sable1

I've heard the same thing. I would smoke a cig sometimes if I was at a party and other people were smoking, but I never got addicted to it. I have always liked the smell of ciggarettes though. Used to stand next to my dad when I was little when he was smoking and try to inhale the smoke, and I've always associated the smell with grown ups and parties, so It's weird that I never picked up the habit, but I think I just never liked it enough to become hooked.

penny74

l read that a lot of alcoholics die of lung cancer because they smoke so much.
Actually they die more than from that than anything else.
When l was in detox l was the only one that did not smoke.

Ranger05

Kinda of an interesting debate really. IMO smoking a pack of cigarettes a day would likely be worse on the body then say drinking 6 beers a day, or having a bottle of wine everyday. And I've heard some people actually turn to cigarettes when they stop the booze. So in fact, they may well be causing more harm to their bodies. So theoretically they would have been healthier perhaps by continuing to drink. Man, that's a mind bender!

BUT, I am of course speaking in terms of physical health only. I certainly realize the alcoholism causes far more damage to a persons life, family, career ect.. then cigarettes would.

Tuitiefruitie

I quit smoking almost 10 years ago. I started holding 2 beers instead of one. Had to do something with the other hand.

Jitterbugg

I only get cravings for cigarettes if I am drinking. I could easily smoke a pack. However, I have no desire to smoke when sober. Never smoked weed or did coke while sober either. Alcohol always was the catalyst to other vices for me.

ExBudGal

They didn't make them long enough when I drank. One right after the other, could easily smoke 2 packs a night. I quit smoking 2 days after I quit drinking. I relaspsed again on the alcohol, but never took up smoking again. I hope it was in time

Soberween

That statistic seems greatly exaggerated to me too. I'm a non-smoker. Sounds stupid, but that is one of the reasons I hate AA meetings. I despise the smell of cigarettes. Especially on other peoples breath and also later on when I can smell the second hand smoke saturated in my clothes.