SMOKING AND DRINKING GO HAND-IN-HAND
Everybody knows they go together. You walk into any bar anywhere around the world and you're bound to find a few smokers, if not many. Why is that? Why do they go together so well? What makes that combination so satisfying? Is it possible to enjoy one without the other? Is it possible to quit one and not the other?
Smoking gives the drinker something to do. If you're over 21, and you're at a bar, you'll most likely be around tons of smokers. At that age, many people do those things at the same time. It gives you something to do, especially with your hands. Some people drink and eat, some drink and read a book, some drink and gamble, while others drink and smoke. There is always a need to do something with your hands while out socially.
The act of smoking is something a lot of people find enjoyable. Again, it gives you something to do while you drink. Instead of wolfing down beverage after beverage, you savor each sip by passing the time with a cigarette in your hand.
You are conditioned to do those things at the same time. Most people start smoking as teenagers. Also, most people start drinking before they turn 21. It's a simple formula. If most people are using tobacco when they're young, and using alcohol when they're young, too, then a good percentage of them will be doing the two together. It has a lot to do with peer pressure.
I started using tobacco before I started drinking. When I started that, I was also smoking, so as I got older, the two were naturally intertwined with each other. It was hard not to do one without the other. I found it very difficult to quit tobacco as I continued to take an active role in the bar scene. That is why I relapsed 100's of times.
However, this doesn't affect everyone. If someone never had a cigarette in their life, and never started as teenagers, then the trigger to light up while drinking would never take effect. For as many people who do use these two things at the same time, there are more than triple those who do NOT do both together. It was never embedded into their routine as young adults.
They go together because they cancel each other out. Nicotine is a stimulant, and alcohol is a depressant. When combined, they neutralize each other. When you're inhaling, you are raising your heart rate. That is what stimulants do to your body. Alcohol may act like a stimulant to some of you, but in reality, it's not. After multiple drinks, you become impaired, your vision is skewed, your judgement is altered, and your vision is affected. You aren't more alert, you are LESS alert.
When people get the stimulating effects of nicotine, they naturally want a drink to bring them back down because it's a depressant. They cancel each other out. It makes sense. That is why you see a lot of people smoking more towards the end of the night rather than at the beginning. They are just instinctively trying to bring up the depressant characteristics that alcohol gives them. The more you drink, the more you'll smoke.
There are many reasons why they go together. But there are also many reasons why they don't. This is just to point out the logical reasons. If you quit, you won't have to deal with the ups and downs. In fact, you'll enjoy yourself even more because you'll have more freedom. You won't have that urgent desire to step outside and light up. You can stay inside and mingle with the majority of those who don't engage in that activity. If you're not one of them, then you're outnumbered. That is a statistical fact! Stop the use of tobacco, and use your hands to give yourself a round of applause.
