"Which is worse: alcohol or cigarettes?"

Parent Cafe
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<p>If we are simply speaking to what we would tell our kids- I would say, it is like what we hear re: academics in high school and they ask, " should I take a difficult course, or should I aim for a high grade?“. We of course tell them " you should take the difficult course * and* aim for the high grade” ;)</p>

<p>Neither alcohol or cigarettes should be used by minors at all.
Alcohol can be used * by some adults* in moderation.
However, if you are talking the sheer devastation that one addict can wreak on a family- alcohol is by far the winner/loser.</p>

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<p>Tobacco companies don’t “add” nicotine to tobacco. It’s a naturally occuring part of the tobacco plant (actually an insecticide, extracted from tobacco and used to kill aphids). It’s a fluke of nature that the nicotine molecule binds perfectly to a set of receptors in the brain (highjacking these receptors is the underlying cause of the drug addiction).</p>

<p>Nicotine is why people smoked tobacco in the first place. The only reason in inhale the smoke from burning leaves is to get nicotine and satisfy the physical cravings of the drug addiction. All the rest of it (relieves stress, yadda yadda) is just junkie rationalizations. The only “pleasure” from smoking is relieving the discomfort of an addict with falling levels of the drug. The tobacco companies know this. They understand that their product is nicotine delivery.</p>

<p>As for making tobacco illegal? That’s a complicated question. It is so addictive that people will do anything for nicotine. In prisons where smoking is banned, the black market price of a cigarette can be as high as $10. So, making tobacco illegal, while it sounds reasonable in theory, would generate an immediate black market with significant peripheral crime. Besides, the tobacco companies and the pharmaceutical companies make big money supplying the nicotine addiction market with a variety of products: cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars, gum, patches, inhalers, lozenges, and so forth. In partnership, both industries spend massive amounts of money to convince consumers not to even think about trying to stop being nicotine junkies. Even better, the federal goverment helps market nicotine and sets health care rules such that all doctors must pitch the continued use of nicotine to smokers in order to get reimbursement. It’s a perfect public/private marketing partnership. </p>

<p>They tobacco and drug companies know that as long as a consumer doesn’t get off the drug, they will have that customer for one or the other or both forever. The tobacco companies supply the nicotine the drug companies sell, so they don’t care who gets the retail sale.</p>

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<p>I think smoking is worse, but I may be biased because my wife is an oncologist. I think college-age smokers are much, much more likely to be longterm addicts than college-age drinkers are to be alcoholics.</p>

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<p>Forget alcohol. I would rather see a child start using heroin than nicotine. Most heroin users kick the addicition and very few people die of heroin addiction. The same cannot be said of nicotine addiction. The odds are so bad that, when you light a cigarette, you should really do so with the knowledge that you are making a decision to smoke all day, every day, for your entire life, until it kills you. That’s just reality of the odds. It’s that addictive. Only about half of nicotine addicts manage to quit and nicotine addiction will kill about half of those who don’t quit. Light a cigarette knowing you have a 1 in 4 chance of dying from it? Those are really bad odds.</p>

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<p>Yes nicotine does occur naturally in tobacco.</p>

<p>I used to smoke- I quit when a pack was $ .65. Before they genetically manipulated the tobacco ( & when you could fill up your tank for $6.50- talk about a national addiction).

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<p>I find it hard to believe you would rather be addicted to alcohol than nicotine.
You would rather your child use alcohol every day than tobacco.
To have a spouse that couldn’t stop drinking would be preferable to one who couldn’t stop smoking.
:confused:</p>

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<p>There are many people who use alcohol every day who aren’t addicted to it. I don’t think that’s true of smoking.</p>

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<p>Nice way to avoid my question ;)</p>

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<p>‘Alcohol can be good for you in small to moderate quantities.’</p>

<p>In terms of breast cancer, alcohol is not good for women in ANY quantity.</p>

<p><a href=“http://women.webmd.com/news/20090224/alcohol-linked-to-cancer-risk-in-women[/url]”>Woman's Health: Tests, Screening, Diet, and Health Tips;

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<p>Well, I would rather have my child (at college age) use alcohol every day than smoke every day. For your other questions, I guess it is worse to be addicted to alcohol than to smoking, but one is much more addictive than the other.</p>

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<p>I’m not sure that I agree-- at least with the assertion that your opinion is the obvious choice. My dad is an alcoholic and it’s not as though living with him is a picnic, but my best friend’s non-alcoholic smoking father pretty much drowned in his own blood in front of his wife and children from cancer complications. Not to mention all the exposure to secondhand smoke in their house from infancy.</p>

<p>Our family routine is structured such that my dad’s drinking does not disrupt the household except for rare exceptions. It isn’t pleasant, and I’m sure he’ll die young, but I don’t understand what makes smoking obviously better than drinking. I’d take living with my drunk dad over inhaling smoke every day and constantly stinking like cigarettes any time.</p>

<p>I struggle to see the point of this discussion, really. I don’t see what difference it makes if one is worse, and I’m not convinced there is an answer to that question anyway.</p>

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<p>I think alcohol addiction is worse. My mother watched her mother die of it as a young child, and that can be pretty horrific.</p>

<p>That said, my answer to the original question is cigarettes. Alcohol addiction is far less likely to happen after one drink than cigarette addiction after one cigarette. People drink throughout their lives without being dependent, and drinking regularly does not have negative repercussions the way that smoking regularly does. Getting blackout drunk regularly or drinking and driving are awful, but I think with cigarettes the bad bar is set at just smoking every day. Also, just the smell from being around a smoker nauseates me.</p>

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<p>mini, in the article you linked, women in the study drank on average one drink per day! :eek: I think that many will agree that “one drink per day”=/= “ANY quantity”. BTW, one drink or more a day for a woman is official definition of alcoholism… in France (per my friend who used to live there).</p>

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<p>Here is what NCI doctors had to say about the study:</p>

<p>[Alcohol</a> and Breast Cancer Risk: New Findings - National Cancer Institute](<a href=“http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/causes/breast/alcoholuse0408]Alcohol”>http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/causes/breast/alcoholuse0408)</p>

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<p>Just like with any epidemiological studies, it is not as clear-cut as it seems, and more controlled studies are needed to prove the risks (or heart benefits).</p>

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<p>Don’t get me wrong I hate cigarettes.

  • to clarify * tobacco* cigarettes- :slight_smile:
    My sense of smell is one of the things that still works great on this 53 yr old body. </p>

<p>My husband put the coffee in the basket to get ready for the morning & when I came in the house, I asked him why he made coffee at 5pm? :confused:
He smokes cigarettes & he has to take a shower & leave his clothes in the laundry room before he comes to bed, because the smell bothers me- ( he smokes about a pack a week- I hate it, he has tried to quit many times- but he used to smoke a pack a day)</p>

<p>He also used to drink- Smoking I don’t like, but I wouldn’t get divorced over it- we did almost divorce because of his drinking- When I met him- I didn’t realize he was an alcoholic. No one in my family drank more than * very * occasionally. ( like brandy in xmas eggnog) We were very young & everyone we knew drank on the weekends to socialize- I didn’t know what to look for, or who to ask about concerns with alcohol. I figured he would * grow* out of it.</p>

<p>I don’t support the tobacco companies- on purpose anyway- but I also don’t like how we demonize people that smoke.
Companies don’t have to hire you if you smoke cigarettes & they can even fire you if you do- even if it is not on company time.</p>

<p>What I see, is that smoking has become a very lower class thing to do.
Even if you smoke occasionally, as our president did ( & as did the best president we never had, Jed Bartlett :slight_smile: ), you are demonized or at the very least viewed as self indulgent & weak.</p>

<p>But drinking- we have establishments devoted to just whisky, wine bars & even at my daughters private school functions they would have serve yourself unlimited wine.</p>

<p>I saw many people who drink way more than they should, but that is much more accepted than smoking.</p>

<p>While I still use alcohol & my of-age daughter & my not quite-of-age daughter probably do as well- it doesn’t mean that I am not very aware of the fine line between use & abuse. I think with alcohol, it is really easy to have peers who drink quite a bit & so it is difficult to see that any of them have a problem- because it is " average".</p>

<p>When I was pregnant, I had to go to a high risk clinic at the university, that also saw low income patients. I was shocked & appalled to see women who were noticeably pregnant outside the doors with a cigarette. When I mentioned it to the Dr., she rolled her eyes at my holier-than-thou stance & replied it was a lot better than what they were doing before.<jaw-drop></jaw-drop></p>

<p>The kind of things that we allow to be sold is appalling to me.
Drinks targeted at teens/young adults that contain more alcohol than what you would get at a cocktail lounge. Drinks made to hide the taste of alcohol.
How many bad decisions were made because of alcohol, how many rapes & murders or even “just” fights?</p>

<p>You teach your children what you feel comfortable with- but just be/aware that we also find it very easy to believe that what is " average" or " acceptable" is * fine & dandy*.</p>

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<p>One of my parents is an alcoholic, one is a cigarette-smoker. </p>

<p>The only reason why this is even a question is because “worse” is such a vague term. Which is more addictive? Tobacco. Which is more destructive/bad for society given that you are already addicted to it? Alcohol. </p>

<p>If I had to choose between giving my child his/her first beer and his/her first cigarette, I’d pick the beer hands down. If I had to choose between transforming my spouse into an alcoholic or into a cigarette smoker, I’d pick the cigarette smoker hands down.</p>

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<p>This is so swayed by personal experience. Family members of alcoholics are more likely to say alcohol is worse, and family members of smokers and/or family members who have lost loved ones to lung or associated cancers (oral cancers, etc) from smoking will say cigarettes are worse. </p>

<p>Personally, I have a huge aversion (cannot stand) cigarettes or cigarette smoke with a passion, regardless of whether a person smokes one or 1000 cigarettes. I am no fan of chronic alcoholics, but alcohol in moderation is ok by me, and I enjoy wines and wine tastings.</p>

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<p>It is all in the genes. There are plenty of folks drink and smoke and live to over 90 years old. Get some good genes, if you have your way.</p>

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<p>Alcohol. Hands down. They are both awful, but most of the smokers I know are just cutting off the ends of their lives. Alcohol leads to far more accidents (even including nicotine-caused house fires) that kill babies, children, and strangers. Plus, it can lead to a far more debilitating addiction early on.</p>

<p>I smoked and quit, thanks to Allan Carr’s Easyway. I would recommend that nobody ever try cigarettes, as they are a terrible drug. However, if I had to choose one <em>addiction</em>, I would choose smoking over alcoholism. I just know too many people who died from alcohol that had nothing to do with it.</p>

<p>I’d much rather kill myself. And yes, I know about secondhand smoke, but compared to the risk of being hit by a drunk driver and paralyzed for life, I’d choose it. I’d much rather my child get lung cancer at 55 than be decapitated at seven. Sorry. I know it’s awful but it’s true.</p>

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<p>Absolutely agree with this.</p>

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<p>Hmmm, well, I had a family member addicted to both. As a result of chain smoking which began at age 15, my family member suffered multiple strokes beginning in her 40’s. She’s now a 65 y/o paralyzed, wheelchair bound ex-smoker (she couldn’t lift one to her mouth now as a result of both sided strokes) who literally looks 85 or 90, can’t really speak much, can no longer read, and basically can just watch TV. Total care. The devastation caused by her smoking has been much more terrible than her drinking ever was, as she never ever drove while drinking and, though not a gem to live with at times, was never abusive or in trouble of any kind, was professionally functional, etc.</p>

<p>Cigarettes adversely affect every single organ system in the body. They are a direct cause of so many illnesses/conditions apart from lung cancer. In my family member’s case, cigarettes haven’t just “shortened her life”, they’ve made every living moment for the past twenty years pure physical hell, emotionally devastating, financially disastrous, and just really, really sad. An intellectually brilliant mind and relatively young body absolutely destroyed. </p>

<p>It’s hard for me to see alcohol as the worst villain-if we are talking addictions, why would one have to be defined as worse? Would you rather be stabbed or shot? I don’t know, they would both suck. </p>

<p>Not everyone who drinks gets addicted. But cigarettes-they are vile in every person who partakes and in every possible way I can think of. But hey, my loved one never got breast cancer!</p>