New Study Warns: Quit Smoking to Stay Sober

A new study found that patients with an alcohol use disorder who continue to smoke after they quit drinking are more likely to relapse within a three-year-period.

The study conducted by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and the City University of New York included tens of thousands of recovering alcoholics in the U.S. who were followed for three years. Smokers were two times more likely than nonsmokers to start drinking again, even after the researchers accounted for factors such as mood and anxiety disorders, illicit drug use and nicotine dependence.

Most adults battling alcohol problems also smoke cigarettes. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, an estimated 80-95% of alcoholics smoke cigarettes (compared with 21% of the general public), and 70% of them are heavy smokers. Traditionally, treatment for alcohol abuse requires concurrent treatment for problems around illicit substance use. However, for years, alcoholics were not encouraged to quit drinking and smoking at the same time because it was thought that the stress of quitting alcohol was enough to deal with without adding to it the stress of trying to stop smoking at the same time. It’s also been assumed that smoking makes no difference to sobriety in the long run.

This study clearly casts doubt on this line of reasoning “Quitting smoking will improve anyone’s health,” says Renee Goodwin, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health. “But our study shows that giving up cigarettes is even more important for adults in recovery from alcohol since it will help them stay sober.”

It’s unclear why smoking makes alcohol relapse more likely, but the study’s authors point to past research on the behavioral and neurochemical links between smoking and alcohol, and the detrimental effects of smoking on cognition.

Let me remind you: Smoking is an addiction. It’s as likely to kill as any other addiction — maybe even more so. Because of the damage done to the body by years of heavy drinking, recovering alcoholics who smoke are at a much greater risk for developing health problems related to smoking — particularly cancer and cardiovascular disease. Many recovering alcoholics (including one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous who died of emphysema) have conquered alcohol —- their “primary addiction” — yet die from smoking — their “secondary addiction”. In fact, data shows that smoking actually kills more alcoholics than alcohol.

Remember that stopping smoking is no different than quitting drinking or doing drugs. Nicotine is another substance abused, so treat this the same way as you would any addiction. And substance abuse treatment and recovery centers can help you kick the habit. The clinicians at Kiva Recovery are expertly trained to help you stop smoking and successfully navigate your road to lifelong recovery.

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