Chapter 23 Tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs

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A child who smokes more than 15 cigarettes a day is more than twice as likely to use

an illicit drug and 16 times more likely to use cocaine that one who smokes but on

less than a daily basis. They are 10 times more likely to use an illicit drug and 104

times more likely to use cocaine than someone who never smokes. Adults who

started smoking as children are three times more likely to use marijuana and four

times more likely to use cocaine, compared to adults who did not smoke during

childhood.

Cigarettes, Alcohol, Marijuana: Gateways to Illicit Drug Use, Center on Addiction

and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, October 1994

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The relative risk of alcoholism among smokers is estimated to be 10 times that of

nonsmokers. Cirrhosis of the liver is three times more common among alcoholics who

also smoke. And pancreatitis is increased ten-fold among alcoholics who smoke

compared to those who do not. It is hypothesized that cyanide from cigarette smoke is

toxic to the pancreas and that alcohol interferes with its detoxification.

Nicotine Addiction, pp. 311 and 313

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90% of adolescent smokeless tobacco users also drink alcohol. 31% of smokeless

tobacco users also smoke marijuana, and 7% use cocaine. For this reason,

smokeless tobacco as well as cigarettes is often considered a "gateway" drug.

1994 Surgeon General report, p. 102

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Over 85% of alcoholics also smoke. The combined cost to society of alcohol abuse

and tobacco exceed $140 billion annually in the United States.

Tobacco Control, Winter 1993, p. 520

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