What happens to my body when I smoke and drink?

Nicotine changes how the brain responds to alcohol^,1[1] ²[2] which means more alcohol is needed before you get the same feel-good response that someone who doesn’t smoke gets after a couple of drinks.

Meanwhile, alcohol increases the urge to smoke, and the level of feel-good chemicals produced in the brain by nicotine. The result is that one encourages the other.

This leads to a big problem.

Smoking and drinking together dramatically raises your risk of cancer

Smoking and drinking alcohol both individually increase your risk of cancer and other diseases, and their use together increases the risk even more, especially in your throat and mouth.³ [3]⁴[4] These are known as head and neck cancers and your risk increases because alcohol may cause changes to cells in the mouth and throat that make it easier to absorb the cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco smoke. Alcohol may change how the toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke are broken down in the body, making them even more harmful.

Your risk also increases the more you smoke and drink

• Even smoking fewer than 20 cigarettes and drinking just one to two drinks a day increases your risk of head or neck cancers by four times.⁴[4]

• Drinking more heavily and smoking increases your risk even more, by up to 16 times that of someone who does not smoke.⁴[4]

• And if you both drink heavily and smoke heavily, your risk of head and neck cancers increases by 35 times.¹ [1]

Remember, even “social smoking” or just having cigarettes when you drink will increase your risk of cancer. Drinking can also affect your memory, which may make it hard to remember how much you’ve smoked.

Drinking and smoking also has immediate effects

If you smoke, you're more likely to have hangovers and to have worse hangovers when you have a lot to drink. It also makes for a pricy night out. Quitting helps you and your bank account feel better the following day.