Studies have shown that people who are addicted to alcohol are also highly likely to smoke cigarettes. A report in the June 2008 issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter showed that experts tended to believe that it's imperative to counsel alcohol-dependent individuals to quit smoking as well as drinking not only to improve their health, but also to increase their chances of staying sober.

It is a widespread fear that attempting to quit smoking and drinking simultaneously will undermine treatment for alcohol dependence.

However, most studies have reported that efforts to quit smoking either have no impact on maintaining sobriety or actually increase success of alcohol treatment.

Right now there are no smoking cessation guidelines specifically created for alcohol-dependent adults. For now, the best plan is to follow the federal strategies for treating tobacco dependence, which recommend a combination of counselling and medication.

A major, and still unresolved, problem is whether it's better to tackle one addiction at a time or whether it's better to give up smoking and drinking together.

Researchers have found that when smoking cessation support was delayed by six months, study participants were more likely to remain sober compared with those who received concurrent treatment for both addictions. But a follow-up analysis found that this may have been true only for white people in the study.

Dr. Michael Miller, editor in chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter, notes that no single approach is best for every person struggling with both alcohol and nicotine addiction. Whether an individual quits smoking during alcohol treatment or later, it's a net health gain.

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