Do you reckon the song, ‘You smoke, I drink’? Well, smoking, drinking and substance abuse go hand in hand. A recent survey by Columbia University’s National center on Addiction and substance use reports that smoking is an early signal to drinking and other forms of substance abuses. Health experts believe that depression and mental illness has a direct link to drug abuse and depression.
The survey reports that the smokers who are aged between 12 and 17 are likely to take to alcohol abuse. Kids who start smoking by the age of 12, are more prone to alcohol abuse than others. For the teens and older teens around early twenties, binge drinking has been a major problem. Binge drinking refers to people who drink five or more drinks in a row.
Also, the experts believe that smoking causes the behavioral patterns to change dramatically. The NCA report further mentioned that Marijuana (AKA Mary Jane) is the most used drug among the teens. The brain chemicals serotonin and dopamine are influenced by the use of marijuana. The bottom line is: teen smokers eventually become alcoholics, and also suffer from various health related disorders.
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