If a beer or a glass of wine makes you want a cigarette, you are far from alone.
In 1996, a famous US study by researchers at Purdue University, found that drinking alcohol increases cigarette cravings by more than a third.
It’s why so many of Britain’s social smokers – those who claim to partake only occasionally – say they are more likely to indulge after drinking.
But just how much damage does a ‘cheeky’ cigarette after a few drinks do to the body?
Worryingly, growing evidence suggests that smoking and drinking at the same time could be a deadly combination.
In fact, some studies show that doing the two simultaneously – such as on a night out at the pub – could triple the risk of certain cancers.
But experts say that there is a solution to the problem – and have also revealed the age at which patients should quit their drinking and smoking and still avoid the majority of the risks.
First, it’s important to explain why smoking and drinking together is so dangerous.
Model Kate Moss and her friends enjoy a glass of champagne and a cigarette at a 1998 Vogue party
Experts say that smoking is one of the most harmful lifestyle habits.
Research shows that life-long smokers live 11 years on average less than non-smokers.
Three in five smoking-related deaths will be due to lung cancer – which kills more than 35,000 Britons each year, and is 30 times more likely to strike smokers than non-smokers.
Each time cigarette smoke is inhaled, more than 7,000 chemicals – 70 of which are known to directly cause cancer – enter the lungs, damaging DNA.
Alcohol, while less deadly than smoking, is also a leading cause of cancer.
In fact, the World Health Organization classifies it as a Group 1 carcinogen – the same category as smoking.
Researchers have linked to at least seven types of cancer, including breast, bowel, liver, mouth, throat, oesophageal and laryngeal (voice box) cancer. And the more people drink, the greater the risk.
In the UK alone, alcohol is estimated to cause around 17,000 cases of cancer every year.
However, experts say that while individually risky, smoking and drinking at the same time is even more dangerous.
In 2023, a major UK analysis of the health records of nearly 140,000 patients found that those who smoke and drink at the same time are more than 370 per cent more likely to develop head and neck cancers than those who did the two separately.
A similar 2024 Korean study, found that even light-to-moderate smoking and drinking raised the risk of mouth cancers by more than 400 per cent.
Experts argue that one reason for this is that alcohol can inflame the lining of the throat, making it more vulnerable to the toxins in cigarettes.
‘Alcohol also makes the lining of the mouth and throat more vulnerable to harmful chemicals – particularly those found in tobacco smoke,’ says Dr Philippa Kaye, a GP and cancer patient.
‘That’s why people who both smoke and drink face a far greater risk of cancers of the mouth, throat and voice box than those who do only one or the other.’
Other experts argue that both cigarettes and alcohol contain a dangerous cancer-causing toxin – called acetaldehyde – meaning those who do both at the same time get a double-dose.
In 2004, Finnish researchers put this theory to the test by measuring the levels of acetaldehyde in the mouths of smokers while drinking.
They found that patients who did both at the same time had 700 per cent higher levels of acetaldehyde in their mouths than those who just drank.
But other experts have a more simple theory: that those who smoke while drinking are simply multiplying their risk of cancer by combining two dangerous habits.
‘If smoking doubles your risk of cancer, and drinking doubles your risk of cancer, then doing both quadruples your risk,’ says Professor John Britton, a respiratory medicine expert at the University of Nottingham.
‘It’s the inevitability of maths.’
Experts say the dangerous link between smoking and drinking is worrying because the number of social smokers is on the rise in the UK.
While there are fewer people who would characterise themselves as ‘smokers’ – around 40 per cent of Britons regularly smoked 50 years ago compared to 12 per cent today – the amount of those who have the occasional cigarette is rising.
In 2013, roughly 11 per cent of adults in England ‘occasionally’ smoked, while today nearly a quarter do – the majority of whom are aged between 18 and 25.
However, Prof Britton has good news for social smokers: swapping to vaping can drastically lower the risk of cancer.
He argues that e-cigarettes, while not risk free, are markedly safer than cigarettes.
‘Vaping is extremely low risk compared to cigarettes,’ he says. ‘If you are someone who likes to have a smoke while drinking, I would recommend swapping to a vape instead. This will undoubtedly lower your risk of cancer.’
Moreover, Prof Britton says that quitting the habit early could reverse all the damage it causes.
A major UK study, called the British Doctors Study, found that people who stop smoking by age 35 will have roughly the same chance of dying from cancer as those who never smoked a day in their lives.
Quitting by 44 evades around 90 per cent of health risks. And even giving up by age 54 can avoid 78 per cent of the risk of dying from smoking-related cancer.
Prof Britton argues the same is true for those who smoke and drink.
‘As long as you quit early enough, you can avoid most of the damage,’ says Prof Britton. ‘It’s not an exact science, but it does seem that those who smoke and drink earlier in life are less likely to develop serious disease than those who do these habits late in life. So now is the time to quit.’
