Tobacco & alcohol

This information is intended as a starting point, but if you want to know more or to talk to someone about tobacco or alcohol, contact ASH Scotland or Alcohol Focus Scotland (more contact details at the bottom of this page).

In Scotland, tobacco and alcohol are used by many people in many different ways. Around 90% of the adults in Scotland choose to drink alcohol while just over a third of Scottish adults smoke. Tobacco and alcohol are both drugs. They affect your body and your moods and can lead to problems depending on how and when they are used. Drinking alcohol within the low risk daily limits of 2-3 units for women and 3-4 units for men (with at least 2 alcohol-free days per week) will not significantly damage your health. Smoking any amount of tobacco, however, is always harmful to your health.

Alcohol is responsible for 1 in 20 deaths in Scotland and we have the highest level of consumption and harm in the UK.

Tobacco contains an addictive substance, nicotine, which can make it difficult to quit smoking. Tobacco is responsible for 1 in 4 deaths in Scotland.

For both alcohol and tobacco, the health risks increase as consumption increases. Both substances should be avoided when pregnant or trying to conceive.

When alcohol and tobacco are used together, the risks are often magnified. The risk of developing some cancers is multiplied among people who smoke and drink, and many house fires are caused through cigarettes being dropped when someone is drowsy through drinking.

Alcohol and tobacco are often used as stress relievers but they can end up making life more stressful. Remember your drinking and smoking can affect other people too:

  • Drinking too much can affect the people around you, from your partner and children to work colleagues and even strangers.
  • Other people's smoke can trigger asthma attacks and can be dangerous for young children, especially babies.

Cutting down

If you are trying to cut down your drinking, you might find that you smoke more than usual for a while. Or you may be thinking about stopping smoking - here are a few hints which may help:

  • avoid drinking or smoking on an empty stomach
  • space your alcoholic drinks with soft drinks
  • aim to get your drinking down to the low risk limits
  • use nicotine inhalers, gum or patches to replace cigarettes
  • smoke only half the cigarette, then stub it out
  • leave longer gaps between cigarettes
  • keep cigarettes and alcohol out of children's reach
  • avoid the risk of causing fires when you are drinking and smoking by not becoming so drunk that you lose control of what you are doing
  • research shows that drinking alcohol makes people more likely to want to smoke, but stopping smoking is unlikely to make someone go back to problem drinking
  • some cigarettes are marked as light or low tar but they can just as harmful as normal cigarettes
  • do what you can, not what you can't, e.g. have a few alcohol-free days each week or keep one room in your house smoke-free
  • it is never too late to stop smoking or change your drinking habits.

For further information, contact:

Alcohol Focus Scotland
166 Buchanan Street
Glasgow
G1 2LW
Tel: 0141 572 6700
Fax: 0141 333 1606
email: enquiries@alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk
website: www.alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk

Action on Smoking and Health (Scotland)
8 Frederick Street
Edinburgh
EH2 2HB
Tel: 0131 225 4725
Fax: 0131 220 6604
email: ashscotland@ashscotland.org.uk

This information was produced by ASH Scotland and The Scottish Council on Alcohol (now Alcohol Focus Scotland) in 1998 with the support of the Health Education Board for Scotland.