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The Impact of Alcohol Abuse: Causes, Effects, and Solutions

Categories: Alcohol Abuse Health Care Policy Social Justice

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Psychopharmacology of Tobacco and Alcohol Comorbidity: a Review of Current Evidence

Tobacco (A Weinberger, Section Editor)
Open access
Published: 18 February 2017
Volume 4 , pages 25–34, ( 2017 )

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Purpose of the Review

Comorbidity of alcohol and tobacco use is highly prevalent and may exacerbate the health effects of either substance alone. However, the mechanisms underlying this comorbidity are not well understood. This review will examine the evidence for shared neurobiological mechanisms of alcohol and nicotine comorbidity and experimental studies of the behavioural consequences of these interactions.

Recent Findings

Studies examining the shared neurobiology of alcohol and nicotine have identified two main mechanisms of comorbidity: (1) cross-reinforcement via the mesolimbic dopamine pathway and (2) cross-tolerance via shared genetic and nAChR interaction. Animal and human psychopharmacological studies demonstrate support for these two mechanisms of comorbidity.

Human behavioural studies indicate that (1) alcohol and tobacco potentiate each other’s rewarding effects and (2) nicotine reduces the sedative and intoxication effects of alcohol. Together, these findings provide a strong evidence base to support the role of the cross-reinforcement and cross-tolerance as mechanisms underlying the comorbidity of alcohol and tobacco use. Methodological concerns in the literature and recommendations for future studies are discussed alongside implications for treatment of comorbid alcohol and tobacco use.

Molecular, Neuronal, and Behavioral Effects of Ethanol and Nicotine Interactions

Patterns and Effects of Alcohol and Psychostimulant Co-administration: a Brief Review of Pharmacological Considerations and Subjective Responses

Sean P. Barrett, Anastasija Jemcov & Christine Darredeau

The Role of Dopamine D3 Receptors in Tobacco Use Disorder: A Synthesis of the Preclinical and Clinical Literature

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Introduction

Alcohol and tobacco use independently represent major public health problems, associated with preventable disease and death. Comorbid use of alcohol and tobacco may exacerbate the health effects of either substance alone, with comorbidity associated with increased risk for some types of cancer, e.g. mouth and throat [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] and liver cancer [ 4 , 5 ]. Additionally, for alcohol-dependent individuals, comorbid use increases the risk of tobacco-related diseases (e.g. heart disease and lung disease) [ 6 ] and death from tobacco-related complications [ 7 ].

Alcohol and tobacco use are highly comorbid [ 8 ] and there is a strong correlation between alcohol and nicotine dependency. Alcohol-dependent individuals are three times more likely to smoke than the general population, and individuals who are dependent on tobacco are four times more likely to be alcohol dependent [ 9 ]. Furthermore, alcohol-dependent smokers have more severe nicotine dependency and experience greater difficulty quitting than non-alcohol-dependent smokers [ 10 ]. Consequently, treatment for drug dependency has faced the challenge of tackling comorbid addiction, with uncertainty regarding whether to treat both substance problems together or separately. Typically, the primary addiction is treated first. However, tobacco dependency is rarely treated in alcohol-dependent individuals as treatment providers view quitting both substances at the same time too difficult and suggest that tobacco treatment may negatively impact interventions for alcohol dependency.

Psychopharmacology of Comorbidity

Whilst comorbidity of alcohol and tobacco use is clearly evident, the mechanisms underlying this association and consequences for treatment are not well understood. Psychopharmacological studies represent an opportunity for improving our understanding of alcohol and tobacco comorbidity by examining the shared neurobiological mechanisms and the subsequent behavioural effects of these drugs. Examining the interaction between concomitant alcohol and nicotine use and dependency is a major challenge for researchers as these substances have many shared neural mechanisms, making it difficult to tease the behavioural effects of each drug apart. Additionally, the comorbid effects of alcohol and nicotine are difficult to study given the influence of individual differences in age and gender and differential physiological and behavioural effects dependent on the amount of the drug consumed [ 11 , 12 ]. In this review, we will examine the evidence for shared neurobiological mechanisms of alcohol and nicotine comorbidity and experimental studies of the behavioural consequences of these interactions. Examination of these specific shared mechanisms will contribute to our understanding of the high comorbidity between alcohol and nicotine use and dependency and have important implications for comorbid treatment.

Neurobiological Mechanisms of Alcohol and Tobacco Use and Dependency

Initiation and experimentation with alcohol and nicotine is largely due to the acute pharmacological effects of these drugs. Nicotine is a stimulant, which can increase alertness and improve concentration, whereas alcohol is a depressant drug with acute effects ranging from increased mood and relaxation to decreased inhibitory control, loss of motor control and reduced reaction times. Acutely, nicotine and alcohol also show interactional effects; e.g. nicotine reduces the sedative effects of alcohol [ 13 ] and alcohol potentiates the rewarding effects of nicotine [ 14 ]. However, the neurobiological mechanisms of the acute effects for nicotine and alcohol differ. Nicotine primarily acts on the brain via binding and activation of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). However, alcohol does not bind to one receptor in particular, with activation of many different receptors of several neurotransmitters, e.g. serotonin, dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid. Despite these differences in mechanisms of acute effects, there is a growing body of evidence for shared neurobiological mechanisms that underlie the comorbid use of and dependency on alcohol and nicotine.

Studies examining the shared neurobiology and subsequent behavioural effects of alcohol and nicotine have identified two main mechanisms: (1) cross-reinforcement via the mesolimbic dopamine pathway and (2) cross-tolerance via shared genetic and nAChR interaction. Shared psychosocial factors have also been highlighted as a mechanism underlying comorbid use; however these will not be discussed here given the focus of the review on psychopharmacological mechanisms of comorbidity. The following sections will discuss the neural pathways and supporting behavioural evidence for these two mechanisms, evaluating their contribution to our understanding of alcohol and nicotine comorbidity.

Cross-Reinforcement

Cross-reinforcement refers to the ability of alcohol and nicotine to enhance the motivation to consume the other drug by acting on shared neurobiological mechanisms that underlie the reinforcement of drug effects. Interaction between the reinforcing effects of alcohol and nicotine may occur during acute comorbid use (e.g. intoxication) or may manifest in changes in neurobiological function following repeated use of one or both drugs [ 15 ]. Alcohol and nicotine share a reward activation pathway, where both drugs potentiate the rewarding effects of each other via activation of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. The mesolimbic neural pathway originates in dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) that project and terminate in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) in the ventral striatum. The experience of reward and reward-seeking is accompanied by release of dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway for natural rewards, e.g. food and sex and drug rewards [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Specifically, alcohol and nicotine increase dopaminergic neuron firing [ 20 , 21 , 22 ] and dopamine release in the mesolimbic pathway [ 23 , 24 , 25 ]. Nicotine may activate the mesolimbic pathway via nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) that stimulate VTA neurons to release dopamine in regions including the NAcc [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. The contribution of nAChRs in the reinforcing effects of nicotine is supported by evidence of reduced nicotine administration following blockade of nicotinic receptors in the VTA [ 31 ]. Alcohol may influence the mesolimbic pathway by a number of mechanisms. Firstly, alcohol’s interaction with nAChRs may underlie the reinforcing properties of alcohol [ 32 , 33 ] where nicotine receptor antagonists are shown to increase voluntary alcohol consumption [ 34 ]. Secondly, self-administration of alcohol leads to extracellular dopamine release in the NAcc, consistent with a role for mesolimbic dopamine in alcohol reinforcement [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. In addition, alcohol has been shown to change synaptic plasticity in the mesolimbic pathway via dopaminergic mechanisms that may also underlie the development of alcohol reinforcement [ 38 ]. Supporting studies have shown that injections of dopamine-releasing agents in the NAcc increases alcohol consumption, whilst injection of agents that reduce dopamine release into the VTA decreases alcohol intake [ 39 ].

Research has also examined the role of the mesolimbic pathway to understand the cross-reinforcement between nicotine and alcohol. Evidence for the role of mesolimbic dopamine in interface between alcohol and nicotine has shown the pharmacological blockade of nAChRs in the VTA reduces alcohol intake, indicating that the rewarding effects of alcohol may be dependent on nicotinic receptors [ 40 ]. Additionally, microdialysis studies have lent support to the notion that alcohol and nicotine act synergistically on behaviour via dopamine release in the NAcc [ 41 ]. Tizabi and colleagues [ 24 , 25 ] have provided evidence to indicate that co-administration of alcohol and nicotine produces an additive release of mesolimbic dopamine in the NAcc via injections of both drugs into the VTA. Together, these studies suggest that mesolimbic dopamine activity is an important mechanism contributing to the cross-reinforcement and subsequent comorbid use of nicotine and alcohol.

Animal Studies of Cross-Reinforcement

Animal and human studies have provided robust evidence for the behavioural cross-reinforcement of alcohol and nicotine in support of a shared mesolimbic dopaminergic reward pathway. Studies testing an animal model of cross-reinforcement have consistently demonstrated an interaction between the reinforcing effects of nicotine and alcohol. One line of research has assessed the effects of nicotine on alcohol administration using surgically implanted nicotine releasing capsules or daily injections of nicotine to chronically deliver nicotine. These studies have shown that nicotine increases alcohol self-administration [ 33 , 42 , 43 , 44 ] and motivation to work for/obtain alcohol [ 45 , 46 ]. Another line of work has used a relapse/reinstatement animal model to test nicotine’s reinforcement effect on alcohol. Lệ and colleagues [ 47 ] trained rats to self-administer alcohol via a lever press. Once this behaviour was established, it was extinguished via the lever press no longer delivering alcohol. Using nicotine injections, Lệ and colleagues [ 47 ] were able to reinstate lever pressing in a dose-dependent fashion, indicating that nicotine influences neural pathways underlying alcohol seeking. Few animal studies have investigated the reinforcing effects of alcohol on nicotine.

Human Studies of Cross-Reinforcement

Human studies are consistent in their support for cross-reinforcement of nicotine and alcohol. However, in contrast to animal studies, the majority of human research has focused on evidence for alcohol increasing the reinforcing properties of nicotine. A small body of research has examined alcohol’s capability to increase urge to smoke and cigarette craving as a measure of cross-reinforcement. One study [ 48 ] demonstrated that alcohol (0.4, 0.8 g/kg) increased the urge to smoke in nicotine deprived, heavy drinking, light smokers in a dose-dependent fashion. Smoking urge increases were evident during ascending and descending blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and were greater for positive reinforcing effects than negative reinforcing effects. Similarly, Glautier and colleagues [ 49 ] examined the subjective reinforcing effects of alcohol on nicotine, and also included a behavioural measure of cigarette use. This addition is important as subjective cigarette craving (as assessed in King and Epstein [ 48 ]) does not necessarily confer to actual smoking choice. By measuring the effects of alcohol (0.5 g/kg) on subjective effects of nicotine and smoking typography Glauteir and colleagues [ 49 ] indicated that alcohol increased satisfaction from smoking, length of time spent smoking and number of puffs taken from a cigarette. Together, these studies support a pharmacological priming mechanism of cross-reinforcement, where alcohol increases the subjective reinforcing effects of nicotine.

Further research has examined the behavioural effects of alcohol’s capability to increase the rewarding effects of nicotine and to increase nicotine intake. Early studies of alcohol’s reinforcing effects on nicotine intake demonstrate that alcohol increases the amount, rate and puff volume of cigarette smoking [ 50 , 51 ]. Similarly, early studies by Mello and colleagues [ 52 , 53 ] indicate that chronic alcohol administration (15–21 days) increases cigarette use in moderate-heavy smokers However, these studies are significantly limited by small sample sizes and in the case of the majority of studies [ 50 , 51 , 52 ] entirely male populations. A more recent study has consolidated these findings using a larger sample size of social drinkers and smokers. Mitchell and colleagues [ 54 ] examined the dose-dependent effects of alcohol (0.2, 0.4, 0.8 g/kg) vs. placebo on amount of cigarettes smoked and temporal smoking pattern. Findings indicated that in the hour following a moderate (0.4 g/kg) or higher (0.8 g/kg) dose of alcohol, participants smoked more cigarettes. However, this effect did not extend beyond 1 h suggesting that the cross-reinforcement of alcohol on nicotine may be short lived and restricted to the ascending limb of the blood alcohol curve. This result is in contrast to evidence of alcohol’s potentiation of the urge to smoke on the ascending and descending limb of BAC [ 48 ].

Another body of human research has studied the ability of nicotine to increase the reinforcing value of alcohol. Of these studies, several have used a nicotine vs. placebo design to measure the effects of nicotine administration on the rewarding effects of alcohol. Barrett and colleagues [ 55 ] used a nicotine (1.2 mg) vs. placebo design to examine performance on a high demand, progressive ratio task that rewarded participants with the opportunity to self-administer alcohol. Findings showed that nicotine led to increased motivation to work for alcohol and increased alcohol consumption. Acheson and colleagues [ 56 •] examined nicotine’s (7, 14 mg) reinforcing effects on subjective ratings of alcohol and alcohol consumption. Nicotine (14 mg) increased alcohol consumption for males, but decreased alcohol consumption for females. Males also reported increased arousal following nicotine pre-treatment, whereas females reported a decrease in positive affect. These findings highlight the importance of studying the effects of comorbidity in male and female drug users as the effects of concurrent use of alcohol and tobacco may differentiate by sex or factors associated with sex (e.g. body mass index) (Table 1 ).

Recent work has sought to extend the work of studies that examine the effects of either alcohol or nicotine on the other drug, by examining concurrent administration of alcohol and nicotine. Rose and colleagues [ 14 ] examined the effects of alcohol (0.5 g/kg) vs. placebo and an ad lib smoking period on subjective drug effects including stimulation and satisfaction and relief of craving. Results indicated that alcohol potentiated the positive rewarding effects of nicotine as indexed by increased self-report smoking satisfaction, enhanced stimulant and calming effects of nicotine and increased relief of cigarette craving. In addition, nicotine reversed the sedative effects of alcohol (this finding will be discussed further in the cross-tolerance section). A further study by Kouri and colleagues [ 57 ] examined the effects of nicotine via transdermal patch on the subjective and physiological effects of either a moderate (0.4 g/kg) or high (0.7 g/kg) dose of alcohol. Results indicated that nicotine pre-treatment increased feeling drunk, the effects of alcohol and wanting to drink more. Furthermore, alcohol-induced increased heart rate was enhanced following nicotine pre-treatment. Consistent with the findings of Mitchell and colleagues [ 54 ], these effects were most pronounced in the first hour following alcohol consumption and diminished after 2 h. A further study [ 58 •] examined the separate and combined administration of nicotine and alcohol on craving for each drug using a double-bind study of alcohol (0.30 g/kg males, 0.27 g/kg females) vs. placebo and nicotine (0.6 mg) vs. placebo. Findings indicated that combined administration of nicotine and alcohol increased cigarette craving for all participants and alcohol craving for females and light drinkers only. A similar study by Perkins and colleagues [ 59 ] examined the effects of concurrently administered nicotine (20 μg/kg) and alcohol (0.5 g/kg) on subjective drug effects, mood and cardiovascular response. Results showed that combined administration of alcohol and nicotine increased head-rush, intoxication, arousal cardiovascular measures. These findings suggest had an additive effect of both drugs on pharmacological measure of drug reinforcement. Together, this study with other discussed here demonstrates a role for behavioural cross-reinforcement in the comorbid use of alcohol and tobacco. The findings of these studies also lend support for the role of the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathways in the comorbidity of nicotine and alcohol use.

Cross-Tolerance

Tolerance is a process demonstrated following repeated drug use, where by continued use of a fixed amount of a substance produces a lesser effect (e.g. euphoria, buzz). Therefore, a greater amount of the drug is required to achieve the same, initial effect. The development of tolerance is thought to be instrumental in the escalation of drug-intake and progression to drug dependence. Repeated use of both alcohol and nicotine use can facilitate tolerance to the drugs’ pharmacological effects [ 60 , 61 ]. In addition to tolerance to each individual substance, pharmacological interactions between alcohol and nicotine are evident in the reduction of response to one drug via use of the other. Development of cross-tolerance may contribute to the comorbid use of nicotine and alcohol use via a mechanism of genetic predisposition [ 62 ]. Evidence has demonstrated that individuals with a family history of alcohol dependency may inherit a diminished sensitivity to the pharmacological effects of alcohol, including less intoxication and body sway [ 63 ]. Similarly, Health and Colleagues [ 64 ] reported evidence of a role for genetic predisposition in sensitivity to alcohol’s effects in individuals with no history of familiar alcohol dependency. Together, these studies suggest that decreased reactivity to alcohol may lead to increased and heavy alcohol use due to reduced experience of the pharmacological effects of alcohol. Further research, has also indicated that current smokers report a diminished intoxicating effect of alcohol, compared to former and non-smokers [ 64 ] and for female smokers a genetic association between smoking status and alcohol intoxication [ 65 ]. At present, there is limited knowledge of the precise genes involved in the effects of nicotine on diminished response to alcohol intoxication. However, these studies do indicate cross-tolerant effects between nicotine and alcohol that reflects a reduced response to alcohol in those who smoke.

Another line of research has focused on nicotinic receptors as a possible mechanism underlying the cross-tolerance of nicotine and alcohol. Evidence has demonstrated that alcohol enhances and inhibits the function of several nAChR subtypes [ 66 , 67 , 68 ]. Through mechanisms of both enhancement and inhibition of nAChR subtypes, alcohol is able to affect transmission at these receptors and nicotine-induced signalling [ 69 ]. Several studies have demonstrated that modulation of these receptors can alter the behavioural and neurotoxicological effects of alcohol [ 33 , 69 , 70 ], indicating that shared nAChR sites may contribute the comorbid use of alcohol and tobacco. A recent study indicated the role of nAChRs in the cross-tolerant effects of both drugs. Taslim and colleagues [ 71 ] showed that nicotine reduced alcohol-induced incoordination via nAChR subtype function, suggesting a role for nAChR subtypes α 4 β 2 and α 7 in the behavioural cross-tolerance of nicotine and alcohol.

Animal Studies of Cross-Tolerance

Cross-tolerance of alcohol and nicotine is a complex process to disentangle and evaluate given the repeated comorbid use of both drugs in humans. However, animal studies of cross-tolerance have demonstrated that reduction of response to nicotine/alcohol via repeated exposure to the other drug is an important motivating factor in comorbid use. These studies have examined cross-tolerance between nicotine and alcohol on numerous measures of the pharmacological effects of both drugs, including changes in temperature and motor activity. One body of research has assessed the effects of repeated alcohol exposure on cross-tolerance to the effects of nicotine in rodents. One study [ 72 ] demonstrated that chronic alcohol administration (via a liquid diet) initiated tolerance for alcohol’s behavioural effects. Additionally, chronic alcohol exposure induced cross-tolerance for nicotine. A further supporting study [ 73 ] of 4-day alcohol administration in adolescent mice demonstrated tolerance to alcohol’s hypothermic response (i.e. reduced temperature). At 30 days post alcohol administration, female mice were cross-tolerant to nicotine’s effects on temperature and locomotor activity (i.e. location exploration). These studies support the notion that alcohol and nicotine share neurobiological sites of action.

Another group of animal studies have examined the effects of repeated nicotine administration on cross-tolerance of alcohol’s effects. A series of studies by Parnell, Chen and Colleagues [ 74 , 75 , 76 ] have demonstrated that administration of a range of nicotine doses (0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6 mg/kg), reduces peak BAC following a dose of alcohol, indicative of cross-tolerant effect of nicotine on alcohol. Further evidence of nicotine’s cross-tolerant effects has been provided by studies of repeated nicotine infusion in selectively bred mice. Research has shown that inbred DBA/2 mice exposed to intravenous infusion of nicotine (0.25–0.8 mg/kg/h) for 10–14 days developed tolerance for several effects of nicotine and cross-tolerance to the hypothermic effects of alcohol [ 77 , 78 ]. These data support the genetic basis of the cross-tolerance of nicotine and tobacco, reflecting a reduced response to alcohol following repeated nicotine exposure.

Human Studies of Cross-Tolerance

Compared with human studies of cross-reinforcement, fewer studies have produced translational evidence of cross-tolerant effects of nicotine and alcohol in humans. However, of the studies that did examine this research question, most have examined cross-tolerance as a mechanism mitigating the aversive effects of one drug on the other via measures of intoxication, craving and drug use. Several studies have investigated the combined effects of alcohol and nicotine administration on the subjective and behavioural interaction of these drugs. A study by Oliver and colleagues [ 58 •] demonstrated that co-administration of a low-dose alcohol (0.30 g/kg males, 0.27 g/kg females) blocked the satiating effect of nicotine on cravings to smoke. Similarly, Rose and colleagues [ 14 ] examined the effects of alcohol (0.5 g/kg) and an ad lib smoking period on subjective drug effects. Results demonstrated that nicotine reduced the sedative effects of alcohol. A third study by Perkins and colleagues [ 59 ] examined the combined effects of alcohol (0.5 g/kg) and nicotine (20 μg/kg) administration on subjective drug effects. Findings indicated that nicotine reduced the intoxicating effects of alcohol and eliminated alcohol’s sedative effects during descending BAC. Together, the findings of these studies suggest a mechanism of alcohol and nicotine cross-tolerance whereby nicotine reduces the subjective intoxication and sedative effects of alcohol.

Conclusions

Studies examining the behavioural effects of alcohol contribute to our understanding of concurrent alcohol and tobacco use in several important ways. Findings of behavioural studies discussed here indicate the role of two key psychopharmacological mechanisms in the comorbid use of alcohol and tobacco; cross-reinforcement and cross-tolerance. Studies of cross-reinforcement indicate that alcohol and nicotine potentiate each other’s rewarding effects, as evidenced by increased craving, subjective rewarding effects, consumption and motivation to work for the other drug. Findings of these studies indicate that the comorbidity of alcohol and tobacco use is in part driven by an interaction between the reinforcing effects of alcohol and nicotine on enhanced motivation to consume the other drug. The studies reviewed here also indicate that alcohol and nicotine have a cross-tolerant effect, where evidence demonstrates that nicotine reduces or blocks the sedative and intoxication effects of alcohol. Nicotine’s attenuation of these effects may serve to eliminate some the negative effects of alcohol that limit alcohol consumption, e.g. tiredness and drunkenness. Therefore, these findings suggest that the cross-tolerance effect of nicotine on alcohol’s sedative effects is a potential mechanism underlying comorbid use of alcohol and nicotine.

The findings discussed here have clinical implications for treatment of comorbid alcohol and tobacco use. Until recently, smoking and drinking were viewed as separate targets in interventions aimed at reducing tobacco and alcohol use. Similarly, alcohol and tobacco dependence were approached separately or individually in treatment, with alcohol dependency often being treated first, in isolation. Drobes [ 79 ] suggests that smoking cessation programmes were deemed as contradictory to treatment of alcohol dependency, where tobacco dependency was regarded as a more trivial problem compared with alcohol misuse. Furthermore, treatment of tobacco dependency was considered to have a negative impact on treatment outcomes for treatment of alcohol dependency [ 80 ]. However, the research examined in this review indicates that combined treatment of comorbid alcohol and tobacco use may lead to more favourable treatment outcomes. Evidence from behavioural studies of cross-reinforcement and cross-tolerance of alcohol and tobacco is potentially useful in identifying individuals at risk for developing heavy comorbid use of alcohol and tobacco and comorbid dependency. Furthermore, understanding the mechanisms underlying alcohol and tobacco’s comorbid use will improve interventions for reducing concurrent alcohol and tobacco use. Studies of cross-tolerance [ 14 , 58 •, 59 ] suggest that nicotine’s reduction of alcohol’s intoxicating and sedative effects may increase the likelihood of greater alcohol use in smokers. This finding has implications for smokers who are looking to cut down or reduce their drinking, where tobacco use may play a role in maintaining drinking behaviours. Smokers and/or health professionals treating them should be aware of the effects nicotine has on the intoxicating effects of alcohol and of the potential of smoking to undermine attempts to reduce drinking due to cross-tolerance effects of alcohol and tobacco. Evidence of alcohol’s cross-reinforcing effect on nicotine also aids our understanding of the role of alcohol effects on nicotine reward in smoking relapse. Research indicates that rates of successful smoking cessation are reduced in smokers with current or past alcohol problems [ 81 ], suggesting that co-current tobacco and alcohol use hampers smoking cessation. This finding is supported by evidence from behavioural studies of cross-reinforcement, indicating alcohol’s potentiating effect of nicotine’s rewarding effects, including alcohol’s ability to increase smoking satisfaction [ 48 ] and cigarette use [ 54 ]. Together, these findings suggest that smokers who are trying to quit should reduce their alcohol consumption or avoid drinking. Evidence from studies of cross-reinforcement also suggest that craving for cigarettes is increased following alcohol consumption [ 48 ] and that smokers should also be aware of increased cigarette cravings when drinking alcohol during smoking cessation. Indeed, strategies for reducing alcohol consumption may help attenuate cigarette craving and smoking during smoking cessation.

Interpretation of the discussed findings from behavioural studies, however, should be considered in light of the following methodological limitations. Many of the discussed studies are limited by small sample sizes, with the smallest study having an n = 5 [ 50 ] and the largest study having a n = 78 [ 58 ]. It is therefore important that further research using adequately powered studies is conducted to confirm the results of studies with smaller sample sizes. Many of the discussed behavioural studies were also conducted with only male participants [ 50 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 57 ]. Studies of alcohol and nicotine administration in male and female participants have suggested sex differences in the cross-reinforcement and cross-tolerance of alcohol and nicotine. For example, Acheson and colleagues [ 56 •] found that nicotine increased alcohol consumption in males, but decreased alcohol consumption in females. Sex differences were also reported in the subjective effects of nicotine on alcohol use. Several explanations for these differences in males and females have been suggested, including body composition and social factors [ 56 •]. However, the underlying reasons for sex differences in the pharmacological effects of alcohol and tobacco have not yet been fully explored and therefore warrant further investigation. Another methodological consideration of behavioural studies is the discrimination of alcohol’s effects during ascending and descending BAC. Several studies point towards differential effects of alcohol on nicotine’s rewarding effects at different levels of BAC [ 48 , 54 , 58 •]. Perkins and colleagues [ 13 ] also outline several further methodological problems in interpreting the studies discussed here, including difficulty in controlling nicotine dosing if tobacco/cigarette smoking is the method of administration for nicotine. Studies have begun to use methods of nicotine delivery other than ad lib cigarette smoking, or self-administration of tobacco to eliminate this problem, such as transdermal nicotine patch [ 57 ] and nicotine nasal spray [ 59 ]. However, further research is required to determine the influence of different methods of nicotine administration. Studies are also limited in their consideration of past history of drug use of study participants [ 13 ]. Future behavioural studies of cross-reinforcement and cross-tolerance should seek to examine the effects of nicotine and alcohol co-administration in different categories of smokers and drinkers (e.g. occasional, light, heavy and dependent users). Exploration of different levels of comorbid use will improve understanding of the role of cross-enforcement and cross-tolerance in the initiation and maintenance of dual drug use and the development of comorbid abuse and dependency.

In summary, alcohol and tobacco use are highly comorbid behaviours, where concurrent use may potentiate the negative effects of either substance alone. This review identified neurobiological and behavioural evidence for two central mechanisms underlying the comorbid use of alcohol and tobacco; cross-reinforcement and cross-tolerance. The findings discussed here aid our understanding of the mechanisms underlying alcohol and tobacco comorbidity and have several important implications for the comorbid treatment of alcohol and tobacco use and dependency. Development of treatment programmes should be based on the mechanisms identified in this review to improve interventions aimed at comorbidity.

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Adams, S. Psychopharmacology of Tobacco and Alcohol Comorbidity: a Review of Current Evidence. Curr Addict Rep 4 , 25–34 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-017-0129-z

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Tobacco and alcohol

Updated 19 August 2021

Subject Addiction

Downloads 37

Category Food , Health

Topic Alcohol , Tobacco

Many people are misled into believing that legalizing substances

like tobacco and alcohol, as well as the government's ability to regulate their use, would make them less dangerous to society. Since people have differing viewpoints on various issues in life, every speaker or author should focus on persuading their audience of their point of view. However, depending on the speaker's or author's approach, persuading people can be simple or difficult.

Hari Johann discussed and addressed the problem of addiction from a different viewpoint

in his book "What You Think You Know About Addiction Is Wrong." Hari found out that the idea of punishing addicts as an approach and a reason to change their attitude on drugs to make the victims stop abusing the substance had little to no impact to the addicts and their surroundings. Instead, it made the addicts worse because of constant ridicule and abandonment from individuals and groups that they expected and hoped would help them overcome their problems. Hari’s presentation captured the attention of most viewers because of the application of different elements of an argument such as the use of logos, pathos, humor, ethos, gestures, eye contact, clarity, and vocal coordination among other factors. Any cogent argument analysis should maintain a rational criterion that aims at showing how the premises supported the speakers’ conclusion.

Background of Addiction

Reinarman described addiction as a chronic brain disorder that negatively impacts a person's body through the constant use of substances or the engagement of activities intended for rewarding stimuli but the excessive habit results in adverse consequences (307). Moreover, Reinarman also found out since the beginning of the twenty-first century, people in the western countries view addiction as a brain disease (307). In some situations, some people use the term addiction as a mantra to justify success. For instance, some successful individuals argue that people have to immerse themselves in their works as addicts as a platform to get better rewards than the average person. Even though the idea may sound logical, it still triggers some people to question how much is too much. Over the years, addiction seems to have existed, but its ubiquity did not originate from scientific discoveries. Instead, Reinarman believed that people became addicts as a sense of social accomplishment (308). Nevertheless, Hari had a different view about addiction as he stated that society had a wrong perception of compulsion and that false impression has blinded people's ability to combat this habit efficiently.

Reasoning and Evidence

Hari’s use of reasoning and evidence as elements of arguments made the presentation convincing and clear. The idea behind rationale is to help an audience observe and interpret an issue in the speaker's point of view. For example, Hari engaged the listeners in a thoughtful experiment that required the people to imagine using heroin three times a day for 20 days. At this point, Hari wanted the listeners to imagine themselves as addicts and what they would like society to do towards helping substance abusers overcome their addiction. Such an approach helped Hari disseminate his idea by ensuring the viewer's understood his concept from the speaker's viewpoint. Additionally, Hari centered and supported arguments by the utilization of different forms of evidence. For instance, Hari admitted that just like most people, he realized that he did not understand the meaning of addiction. Therefore, Hari decided to interact with professionals like Bruce Alexander who had conducted experiments and researched more about addiction and also intermingled with crack dealers to understand their perception of the issue. Consequently, such evidence made Hari more convincing because he supported his presentation with real-life reasons to back up his arguments.

Speaker's Presentation

The style in which a person presents himself or herself in front of an audience when giving a speech also speaks a lot about the individual's ability to convince an audience. In this case, Hari utilized a couple of visual elements of speech as an approach to communicate his information and argue his ideas effectively. For instance, Hari mastered the art of and owning the podium while making the presentation. Whenever Hari turned to face any direction, he kept eye contact with the audience all the time. Moreover, the speaker maintained the center position but moved the body in different directions to reduce the chance of giving any of the audience his back. Equally, Hari's stance also signified a sign of confidence that appealed to an audience. Hari also used body language tools such as gestures, and facial expression throughout the presentation to connect with the audience. Gestures reinforce words and ideas conveyed by a speaker, and they also underpin the way a person feels about an issue. Additionally, Hari mainly used symbolic and descriptive gestures to express words, ideas, and enhance his stories. Therefore, that explains why Hari used his hands and arms a lot while speaking. The use of facial expressions also helps in communicating a message to the audience as felt by the speaker. Hari looked concerned when talking about coming from a family that had addicts. Consequently, non-verbal communication techniques help viewers remember or comprehend an argument even after leaving the venue.

Rhetorical Appeals

Speakers need to utilize persuasion strategies also known as rhetorical appeals with the objective of connecting, engaging, and convincing an audience about the subject in question. Hari's aim included assuring the listeners that their knowledge of addiction was wrong and he had to prove that by providing logical explanations in support of his new-found ideologies. In such a case, Hari utilized logos as a rhetorical appeal that emphasizes the use of logic to prove and back up a person's opinion. For example, the speaker conducted intensive research which began by reading several books, articles, and any other print or online material to understand why the approach used by different parties to help people overcome addiction did not produce significant results (Hari). Equally, Hari used ethos to persuade his audience about the scientific proofs of his ideology. For example, the speaker provided evidence of interacting with professionals such as professor Alexander, and Peter Cohen and used their information to back up his arguments.

Over the years, the topic of addiction has been explored and debated upon by different people including Hari with the intention of helping audiences understand the various views and theories associated with the subject. However, the staging approach is the factor that differs from the speakers. Efficient speakers back up their arguments with reason and ethics. In such a case, the speaker must identify a conclusion and later on embark on deduction strategy that incorporates different premises that support the speakers' conclusion. Similarly, an excellent speaker will also employ non-verbal communication strategies such as the use of body patterns to emphasize ideas. Overall, Hari captured the attention of his viewers and deduced his arguments by supporting his ideas towards convincing his audience about his belief.

Works Cited

Hari, Johann. Everything you think You Know about Addiction Is Wrong. TEDGlobalLondon, 2015, https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong. Accessed 24 Nov 2017.

Reinarman, Craig. Addiction as Accomplishment: The Discursive Construction of Disease. Addiction Research & Theory, vol. 13, no. 4, 2005, pp. 307-320.

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Impact of Alcohol, Tobacco And Drug Abuse on Youth

Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs are affect youth negatively. Youth especially student’s e.g. secondary and tertiary students abuse alcohol, tobacco and other Drugs. Drugs such as tobacco, cocaine and marijuana are the major drugs which students abuse or use. Youth may end up drinking alcohol and using drugs because of various situations or reasons e.g. youth especially school going drink alcohol, use tobacco and other drug as a result of peer pressure because they may want to feel grown up among their peers, some youth use drugs to relieve boredom and give themselves personal excitement, some use drugs to rebel and get violent without any fear of people or authority, some use drugs to experiment, some use drugs and drink alcohol because their parents also drink alcohol so they end up indulging in the practise as well, social background may also influence youths to use drugs and to drink alcohol e.g. if they are many drug dealers and bottle stores around its easier for youths to indulge in the use of this drugs and lastly some youth may drink alcohol and abuse drugs to feel pleasure and escape the pressures of life or to alter their view of reality. Youth who get into drugs may get it from a friend’s friend, who also got it from his friend’s friend and so on this is to say that drugs are not of easy access because they are illegal. At the end of this long line of friends is a dealer who is making money out of destroying young people futures. The use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs has negative impacts amongst the students who abuse this substances e.g. excessive alcohol consumption and the abuse of drugs are dangerous because alcohol and drug abuse can affect health and ability to function and think properly, almost every system in the body can be negatively affected by use of drugs and drinking of alcohol. Alcohol can cause cancer, liver disease, heart attacks and brain damage, to mention a few. Alcohol, tobacco and other drug use does not only affect youth especially students’ health wise it also affects their academic performance, it also affect them financially, psychologically, physically and ultimately students may suffer some legal consequences. Youth more so teens, who engage in sexual intercourse and drug abuse including abuse of alcohol and tobacco, are more likely than youth who abstain from such activities to become depressed, have suicidal thoughts and or even attempt suicide.

HEALTH EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND DIFFERENT DRUG USE The use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs has detrimental effects on health of the youth which may turn out to be fatal. The type of drugs which students commonly use are Stimulants (drugs that produce alertness, high energy, more awake and confident e.g. cocaine, amphetamines, caffeine) and Hallucinogens (give strange and intense visions called hallucinations) ALCOHOL

The scientific name for alcohol that people drink is ethyl alcohol or ethanol. Beer, wine, and liquor all contain ethyl alcohol. Other types of alcohol, like rubbing alcohol are poisonous if ingested. . Excess alcohol is the most common cause of preventable death. Alcohol is highly toxic to almost every organ in the body but when alcohol is taken in allowed limits amounts it is detoxified by the liver and therefore does little or no harm to the body. Alcoholic drinks contain ethyl alcohol and it is metabolized in the body to acetaldehyde. Both ethanol and acetaldehyde interfere with normal functioning of organs in the body including the heart and the liver and therefore if the liver and the heart get damaged disease occur which may eventually kill, teenagers maybe more prone to this effects in the youth as their organs are still developing thus toxic substances from alcohol damage their body organs. When people drink too much, with time they risk becoming addicted to alcohol. This is called alcoholism, or alcohol dependence. It’s a disease, and it can happen at any age, Common signs include, loss of control not being able to stop or cut down drinking, not feeling well after heavy drinking (upset stomach, sweating, shakiness, or nervousness), neglecting activities giving up or cutting back on other activities. Binge drinking happens when someone drinks more than four (for women) or five (for men) alcoholic drinks in about two hours, with the intention to getting drunk. Binge drinking is the most harmful type of drinking. It usually happens at teen or student parties TOBACCO The dangers of smoking are so great, but because of it governments get a lot of tax money from tobacco and cigarettes manufacturers, they are less hesitant to ban it totally. Government and society is aware of the danger that is why they made it illegal for teens to possess and use cigarettes. Smoking of tobacco can cause many with many diseases like respiratory and heart disease including, respiratory infections, lung cancer as well as cancer of the larynx, pancreas, stomach, & uterine cervix, bronchitis, emphysema and stillborn or premature children ().Smoking causes surges in the concentrations of catecholamine’s (the stimulator chemical messengers of the autonomic nervous system) as well as increases in carbon monoxide in the blood. Both of these short- term effects can exacerbate existing heart disease, resulting, for instance, in attacks of angina (chest pain). Nicotine raises blood pressure and heart rate, requiring the heart to work harder. It also constricts the coronary arteries, thereby lessening the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart muscle. It also promotes irregular heartbeats (cardiac arrhythmias). Smokers are not the only people harmed by tobacco. Toxic fumes from cigarettes pose a health threat to all those around smoker’s family, friends, and. Because the organic material in tobacco does not burn completely, smoke contains many toxic chemicals, including carbon monoxide, nicotine, and tar. As a result of this exposure, smokers’ children have more colds and flu, and they are more likely to take up smoking themselves when they grow up. Smokers also affect other people as well e.g. passive smoking. This is the involuntary inhaling of smoke from other people cigarettes and we all suffer when we have people smoking around us. It is called second-hand smoking and it is known to be even more dangerous than smoking itself COCAINE

Use of cocaine has increased among youth over the years, along with the myth that the drug is relatively safe, especially when it is sniffed rather than injected or smoked as ‘crack.’ In fact, no matter how it is used, cocaine can kill. It can disturb the heart’s rhythm and cause chest pain, heart attacks, and even sudden death. These effects on the heart can cause death even in the absence of any seizures. Even in the absence of underlying heart disease, a single use of only a small amount of the drug has been known to be fatal. Cocaine use is not healthful for anyone, but especially for certain groups like the youth. Although the drug has been shown to impair the function of normal hearts, it seems even more likely to cause death in people with any underlying heart disease. When pregnant women use cocaine, they not only raise the likelihood of having a miscarriage, a premature delivery, or a low-birth-weight baby, but also of having a baby with a congenital heart abnormality, especially an atrial-septal or ventricular-septal defect.

Use of cocaine raises blood pressure, constricts blood vessels, and speeds up heart rate. It may also make blood cells called platelets more likely to clump and form the blood clots that provoke many heart attacks. In addition, cocaine’s effects on the nervous system disrupt the normal rhythm of the heart, causing arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats). Recently, scientists have established that cocaine binds directly to heart muscle cells, slowing the passage of sodium ions into the cells. Cocaine also causes the release of the neurotransmitter nor epinephrine (nor adrenaline), a chemical messenger that stimulates the autonomic nervous system. Both changes can lead to arrhythmias. Heart attacks in young people are rare. However, when they do occur, cocaine is frequently the cause.

Cocaine is a highly addictive substance, and crack cocaine is substantially more addicting, as the drug is far more potent and is smoked. Users quickly develop a tolerance to crack cocaine, needing more of the substance to achieve the desired effects. Because the high from crack cocaine is so short-lived, users commonly smoke it repeatedly in order to sustain the high. This can lead to an even faster onset of addiction. Also, because crack cocaine works on the brain’s system of reward and punishment, withdrawal symptoms occur when the drug’s effects wear off. These symptoms can include depression, irritability, and extreme fatigue, anxiety, an intense craving for the drug, and sometimes even psychosis. Users will often keep using crack cocaine simply to avoid the negative effects of withdrawal

Marijuana harms in many ways, and kids are the most vulnerable to its damaging effects. Use of the drug can lead to significant health, safety, social, and learning or behavioural problems, especially for young users. Making matters worse is the fact that the marijuana available today is more potent than ever. Short term effects of marijuana use include memory loss, distorted perception, trouble with thinking and problem solving, and anxiety. Students who use marijuana may find it hard to learn, thus jeopardizing their ability to achieve their full potential. Long term effects include reduced resistance to common illnesses (colds, bronchitis, etc.), suppression of the immune system, growth disorders, increase of abnormally structured cells in the body, reduction of male sex hormones, rapid destruction of lung fibre’s and lesions (injuries) to the brain could be permanent, Study difficulties: reduced ability to learn and retain information, apathy, drowsiness, lack of motivation, personality and mood changes, inability to understand things clearly.

ACADEMIC EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND DIFFERENT DRUG USE Heavy drinking by students can lead to positive blood alcohol levels the next day, affecting whether or not they even get up for class and, if they do, the quality of how information is processed and ultimately stored. Sleeping off a buzz, a common practice, can interfere with the sleep cycle, resulting in an increase in anxiety, jumpiness, and irritability the next day, and fatigue the day after that With evening use, marijuana has the same impact on sleep that alcohol has, throwing off the sleep cycle and impacting how a person feels for at least two additional days. Marijuana suppresses neuronal activity in the hippocampus, resulting in problems with attention, memory, and concentration. There is increasing evidence that there is an impact to motivation following marijuana use. This could be due to the effect of THC in the body blocking the passage of nutrients through cells, the neuronal suppression in the hippocampus, or the decrease in energy accompanying the fatigue that follows night time use. Marijuana significantly increases heart rate, weakens the heart muscle, and affects blood pressure- the increase in heart rate can be a concern for someone already dealing with anxiety ( and particularly panic). College students often forget why they are supposed to be in school. Is the purpose of university life to party all the time or to get the most out of the learning environment? Substance abuse can seriously affect academic performance. Aside from long-term addiction (or possible emptying you bank account) it can cause grades to plummet. How? Substance use affects you entire body, including your brain, in a variety of ways. Judgment is often the first attribute to be affected. You may find it difficult to make good decisions, to make them quickly or to be realistic when you make them. Suddenly, it becomes much easier to wait until the last minute to cram for that exam or to crank.

First of all, drugs and alcohol are a drain on people’s finances. We have all experienced the stress associated with money at one time or another. For those who abuse drugs or alcohol, financial issues are further compounded by their need to feed their habit. They frequently accumulate debt, borrow or steal money from others, or choose their substance of choice over more important things like food for their family or utility bills. While no one wants to be homeless, in debt, or engaging in criminal activities, the financial impact of drug and alcohol abuse risks not only your ability to support yourself, but it can also destroy relationships. When you abuse drugs or alcohol, you are choosing that substance over everything else, including your loved ones. Whether they are suffering from your financial choices or have become mistrustful of you, you have placed a strain on your relationships, which can ultimately ruin those connections for good. Families and others that rely on a sufferer of alcoholism are likely to experience problems related to financial troubles caused by drinking habits. The costs of alcohol increase as the alcoholic person builds tolerance to the drug in his or her system. This requires the person to take in ever-greater amounts of alcohol in order to feel the same effects. The psychological effects of this alcohol tolerance and dependency may cause the sufferer to become withdrawn and less supportive of colleagues, friends and family members. Sufferers may no longer attend social functions that do not allow drinking and may not be fully aware of their behaviour if attending functions where their drug of choice is allowed. A lack of networking and communication with peers may cause further financial problems if the sufferer loses promotion opportunities. Greater drains on income and lessened opportunities may cause undue troubles for others financially dependent on the sufferer, requiring a spouse or roommate to pick up extra hours or a second job to keep bills at a manageable level.

SOCIAL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND DIFFERENT DRUG USE Excessive alcohol use can affect all areas of a person’s life, including family, work and personal relationships. Family problems: Arguments over someone’s drinking can cause family and relationship problems that may lead to break up. Work problems: Drinking alcohol at work and hangovers can lead to poor performance and accidents at work, while illness can result in absenteeism. Legal problems: Drink-driving may lead to fines, loss of license and even imprisonment Misbehaviour caused by alcohol can also have disastrous effects on a pupil’s educational attainment, as well on performance in tests of intellect in later life. Compared with those pupils who have never truanted, pupils who had ever truanted from school had increased odds of having drunk alcohol in the last week (odds ratios of 2.24 for those who had truanted in the last year, 1.69 who had truanted previously). 6.5% of permanent exclusions of children from English state-funded secondary schools in 2010/11 were due to alcohol. Women, especially young women, encounter special risks in groups of drinking friends and acquaintances. In many societies, a woman who drinks seems to signal that she is at least approachable, and to some men an intoxicated woman is by definition sexually available. Such concepts as ‘acquaintance rape’ and ‘date rape’ bear witness to recent concern with this problem. A large proportion of unwanted sexual advances are mediated by alcohol. Initiation into certain groups, such as military units or college fraternities, sometimes includes drinking very large amounts of alcohol, so-called ‘binge drinking’. This pattern of drinking entails high risks of accidental injury, violence and acute alcohol-poisoning. It has long been known that a heavy-drinking lifestyle in groups of friends is relatively common in the armed forces. More recently, the focus has been on such drinking patterns on college and university campuses and what they mean for the development of problem drinking patterns later in life. INTERVENTIONS

A drug intervention is a structured, solution-oriented process undertaken to persuade someone who is abusing drugs to seek help in overcoming the addiction. Family, friends, and others involved in the person’s life use the intervention to demonstrate the extent of the effects of drinking and related behaviours. A successful intervention is not a confrontation but an opportunity for an addicted individual to accept help in taking the first step toward recovery. Often, an interventionist is invited to serve as a guide and educator before, during, and after the intervention. Some drug addicts can and do recognize the extent of the problems stemming from drug abuse and seek treatment without the need for an intervention. Most, however, are reluctant or unable to realize that drugs are responsible for the problems in their relationships, health, or work. They ignore the safety issues related to drinking and driving and other high-risk behaviours. It is common for addicts to deny that drugs are the source of the difficulties they face. They may instead blame other people or circumstances in their lives. When that happens, an intervention can break through the denial and help these individuals clearly see the effects of their drug abuse on the people who matter most to them.

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Essay on Smoking

500 words essay on smoking.

One of the most common problems we are facing in today’s world which is killing people is smoking. A lot of people pick up this habit because of stress , personal issues and more. In fact, some even begin showing it off. When someone smokes a cigarette, they not only hurt themselves but everyone around them. It has many ill-effects on the human body which we will go through in the essay on smoking.

Ill-Effects of Smoking

Tobacco can have a disastrous impact on our health. Nonetheless, people consume it daily for a long period of time till it’s too late. Nearly one billion people in the whole world smoke. It is a shocking figure as that 1 billion puts millions of people at risk along with themselves.

Cigarettes have a major impact on the lungs. Around a third of all cancer cases happen due to smoking. For instance, it can affect breathing and causes shortness of breath and coughing. Further, it also increases the risk of respiratory tract infection which ultimately reduces the quality of life.

In addition to these serious health consequences, smoking impacts the well-being of a person as well. It alters the sense of smell and taste. Further, it also reduces the ability to perform physical exercises.

It also hampers your physical appearances like giving yellow teeth and aged skin. You also get a greater risk of depression or anxiety . Smoking also affects our relationship with our family, friends and colleagues.

Most importantly, it is also an expensive habit. In other words, it entails heavy financial costs. Even though some people don’t have money to get by, they waste it on cigarettes because of their addiction.

How to Quit Smoking?

There are many ways through which one can quit smoking. The first one is preparing for the day when you will quit. It is not easy to quit a habit abruptly, so set a date to give yourself time to prepare mentally.

Further, you can also use NRTs for your nicotine dependence. They can reduce your craving and withdrawal symptoms. NRTs like skin patches, chewing gums, lozenges, nasal spray and inhalers can help greatly.

Moreover, you can also consider non-nicotine medications. They require a prescription so it is essential to talk to your doctor to get access to it. Most importantly, seek behavioural support. To tackle your dependence on nicotine, it is essential to get counselling services, self-materials or more to get through this phase.

One can also try alternative therapies if they want to try them. There is no harm in trying as long as you are determined to quit smoking. For instance, filters, smoking deterrents, e-cigarettes, acupuncture, cold laser therapy, yoga and more can work for some people.

Always remember that you cannot quit smoking instantly as it will be bad for you as well. Try cutting down on it and then slowly and steadily give it up altogether.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of the Essay on Smoking

Thus, if anyone is a slave to cigarettes, it is essential for them to understand that it is never too late to stop smoking. With the help and a good action plan, anyone can quit it for good. Moreover, the benefits will be evident within a few days of quitting.

FAQ of Essay on Smoking

Question 1: What are the effects of smoking?

Answer 1: Smoking has major effects like cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and more. It also increases the risk for tuberculosis, certain eye diseases, and problems with the immune system .

Question 2: Why should we avoid smoking?

Answer 2: We must avoid smoking as it can lengthen your life expectancy. Moreover, by not smoking, you decrease your risk of disease which includes lung cancer, throat cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and more.

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Ielts writing task 2 sample 916 - tobacco and alcohol are drugs that cause addiction and health problems, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, tobacco and alcohol are drugs that cause addiction and health problems. therefore they should be made illegal. .

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Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems – IELTS Writing Task 2

Updated On Dec 13, 2023

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Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems – IELTS Writing Task 2

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Agree Disagree essays, like ‘Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems’, are the most common type of questions in IELTS Writing Task 2 .

In contrast to classic Agree Disagree essays , ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree’ questions do not specifically ask you to declare your level of agreement or disagreement with the statement. You can either say for or against the notion or you can partly agree or disagree with it. Once you’ve made up your mind, come up with two or three arguments in favor of it.

Since Writing Task 2 can be challenging for many IELTS candidates, practising topics like The ‘Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems’ will help you acquaint yourself with the format of structuring an IELTS Agree Disagree essays. Also, if you want to practise regularly, check out the Writing Task 2 practice tests .

Let’s have a look at the Agree Disagree essay – Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems – with three expert-curated sample answers for different IELTS band scores.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Tobacco and alcohol are drugs that cause addiction and health problems. therefore, they should be made illegal. to what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement, give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience., you should write at least 250 words..

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Band 7 Sample Answer for Writing Task 2 Question – Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems

A large percentage of individuals think that alcohol and tobacco should be banned since they are substances that can lead to addiction and health issues. In this essay, I will explain why I agree with this viewpoint.

In the first place, tobacco and alcohol are well-known contributors to multiple health problems, including lung cancer, liver cirrhosis, cardiovascular diseases, and addiction. One of my uncles passed away due to liver cirrhosis, as he used to drink alcohol regularly even when the doctor asked him not to. As a result, supporters of this ban argue that making these substances illegal would result in a significant reduction in the prevalence of such health issues.

Moreover, addictive substances, especially alcohol, are linked to poor judgment and an increased risk of accidents, including drunk driving incidents. Every year, a large number of people meet with deadly accidents due to intoxication. Due to this, a considerable burden on healthcare systems is created. So, people feel that making alcohol illegal could enhance public safety by minimizing alcohol-related accidents and violence.

In the end, even though it is true that alcohol and tobacco have a harmful effect on our health, I believe banning them will not stop the use of these substances. The government will need to check the black market, where the sale of these substances will increase once the ban is applied. Also, individuals should be conscious of the effects and be responsible for regulating their use. (240 words)

Vocabulary

Banned (Verb)

Meaning: officially or legally prevent (something) E.g.: He was banned from flying with this airline due to his misbehavior with the airhostess.

Contributors (Noun)

Meaning: someone who takes part in something or makes a contribution E.g.: Kalika is a regular contributor to the editorial column of the magazine.

Cirrhosis (Noun)

Meaning: a condition in which the liver is scarred and permanently damaged E.g.: After his father died with cirrhosis, he gave up drinking.

Prevalence (Noun)

Meaning: the fact of something existing or happening often E.g.: We noticed a prevalence of inappropriate behavior among the new students.

Addictive (Adjective)

Meaning: something that makes people unable to stop taking it E.g.: Dendrite has an addictive quality and should be kept away from children.

Intoxication (Noun)

Meaning: the condition of having physical or mental control markedly diminished by the effects of alcohol or drugs E.g.: The police asked him to get down from the car as he was showing signs of intoxication.

Regulating (Verb)

Meaning: to control or maintain the rate or speed of (a machine or process) so that it operates properly E.g.: The government should make laws for regulating the misuse of labour.

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Band 8 Sample Answer for Writing Task 2 Question – Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems

Alcohol and cigarettes both have adverse impacts on health and can cause severe addiction. I truly believe that the use of alcohol and tobacco should be prohibited since they are addictive and cause other health issues.

To begin with, more than 25 distinct fatal diseases, such as emphysema, bronchitis, and lung cancer, are linked to smoking. Recent data indicates that tobacco-related diseases claim the lives of four million people worldwide each year, or one death every eight seconds. More people are dying from and getting disabled from tobacco use than from any other single factor. Additionally, smoking tobacco affects not just smokers but also those in the vicinity as they inhale the smoke emitted. Accordingly, smoking ought to be restricted to improve public health. A nation could treat more patients with the amount of money it spends annually on treating citizens with diseases linked to tobacco use.

Moreover, the use of alcohol has grown to be a significant issue during the past few centuries. An increasing number of individuals consume alcohol daily, which leads to severe issues like brain damage, divorce from one’s spouse, and dissolution of a family. In addition, consumption of alcohol reduces productivity, which affects the life of the individual as well as the people around him. Thus, alcohol ought to be banned everywhere.

In conclusion, I believe that the two biggest risks to society and our health are alcohol and cigarettes, as they cause several health and social issues. Therefore, the government should make the use of tobacco and alcohol illegal and individuals should behave more responsibly. (261 words)

Adverse (Adjective)

Meaning: having a negative or harmful effect on something E.g.: Eating fast foods on a regular basis can have adverse effects on your health.

Prohibited (Verb)

Meaning: not allowed E.g.: Women are prohibited to enter mosques.

Emphysema (Noun)

Meaning: a lung condition that causes shortness of breath E.g.: Meena’s father is suffering from emphysema.

Vicinity (Noun)

Meaning: the area near or surrounding a particular place E.g.: No one is allowed to go in the vicinity of that haunted palace.

Emitted (Verb)

Meaning: produce and discharge (something, especially gas or radiation) E.g.: The government should penalize the factories that emitted harmful gasses.

Dissolution (Noun)

Meaning: the act or process of ending an official organization or legal agreement E.g.: Everyone is unhappy to learn about the dissolution of the R&D department of the company.

Productivity (Noun)

Meaning: the rate at which a person, company, or country does useful work E.g.: Productivity and creativity are two important factors that we are looking for in the new candidate.

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Band 9 Sample Answer for Writing Task 2 Question – Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems

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The idea of making tobacco and alcohol illegal is a controversial issue as people are divided in their opinion. In my opinion, although these substances do indeed pose significant health risks and can lead to addiction, banning them may not be the most effective solution. Therefore, I will discuss my viewpoint in the following paragraphs with relevant examples.

It is true that tobacco and alcohol consumption are major contributors to various health problems, including heart disease, liver damage, respiratory issues, and various cancers. Simultaneously, the use of tobacco and alcohol can impair judgment and coordination, leading to accidents and injuries. As a result, supporters argue that prohibiting the use of alcohol would protect individuals from the associated health risks and reduce mishaps. However, history has shown that outright prohibition can lead to black markets, smuggling, and increased criminal activity. The prohibition of alcohol in the United States during the 1920s, for example, led to the rise of organized crime.

Furthermore, supporters of the ban opine that the health consequences of tobacco and alcohol use place a considerable economic burden on healthcare systems worldwide. Likewise, the consumption of these harmful substances is often linked to social problems, including domestic violence, crime, and public disturbances. Nonetheless, some believe outlawing them will not be effective as it is a personal choice. Therefore, individuals must become responsible and consciously try to prevent the damaging effects.

Controversial (Adjective)

Meaning: relating to or causing much discussion, disagreement, or argument : likely to produce controversy E.g.: Divorce in backward countries is a controversial topic.

Impair (Verb)

Meaning: weaken or damage (something, especially a faculty or function) E.g.: The accident impaired his ability to play football.

Coordination (Noun)

Meaning: the act of making all the people involved in a plan or activity work together in an organized way E.g.: The performance of the group was rated low due to lack of coordination among the dancers.

Mishap (Noun)

Meaning: bad luck, or an unlucky event or accident E.g.: The burning of the Northern forest was a mishap no one could forget.

Outright (Adjective)

Meaning: completely or immediately E.g.: Telling him that we have reached the destination is an outright lie.

Smuggling (Noun)

Meaning: the illegal movement of goods into or out of a country E.g.: The detectives are looking for the group that is involved in smuggling of priceless artifacts.

Outlawing (Verb)

Meaning: to make something illegal or unacceptable E.g.: People want the government outlawing child labour in the country.

Detrimental (Adjective)

Meaning: obviously harmful; damaging E.g.: Overconsumption of soft drinks can be detrimental to children.

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IELTS Writing Task 2 Connectors for Extra Points in the Sample Answers for Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems

Connectors or Linking words helps to bring coherence to your writing and increase your chances of scoring a high band. So, check out the list of connectors/linking words used in the sample responses for the IELTS Writing Task 2 – ‘Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems’ given below.

In the first place/To begin with
As a result/Due to this/Accordingly
Moreover/Also/Additionally/In addition/Furthermore
So/Thus/Therefore
In the end/In conclusion/To conclude
In my opinion
It is true that
Simultaneously
However/Nonetheless

It’s time for you to start writing on your own now that you have read through the sample responses on the subject of ‘Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems’. You can use our FREE evaluation service or submit your replies in a comment below for that.

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Kasturika Samanta

Kasturika is a professional Content Writer with over three years of experience as an English language teacher. Her understanding of English language requirements, as set by foreign universities, is enriched by her interactions with students and educators. Her work is a fusion of extensive knowledge of SEO practices and up-to-date guidelines. This enables her to produce content that not only informs but also engages IELTS aspirants. Her passion for exploring new horizons has driven her to achieve new heights in her learning journey.

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Sienna Miller with a martini in one hand and a cigarette in the other in the film High-Rise

Readers reply: why are Britain’s rules around advertising alcohol and tobacco so different?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

Why is alcohol advertised openly in the UK, without pictures on the packaging highlighting the medical effects, for example, when tobacco is treated so differently? John Fisher, by email

Send new questions to [email protected] .

Readers reply

Alcohol is a mood-altering drug, tobacco is not. Who would you trust with your small child: a person who had just had 10 whiskies or 10 smokes? How many domestic violence incidents are recorded where the perpetrator is intoxicated or alcohol is a factor ? How many children grow up with the awful consequences of alcohol and abuse? How much Saturday night violence is caused by intoxication? How much does it cost to police the thousands of drunken incidents? How many NHS staff have to put up with drunks every night in A&E? How many people are killed by drunk drivers ? karris

World Health Organization advice now states that even one alcoholic drink a week increases your risk of seven types of cancer . There are risks in many things we choose to do, but we must stop believing that any level of alcohol consumption is risk-free much less beneficial. ledicko

If you want to have one drink a week, good for you. Life’s a risk and I’d rather enjoy whatever time I have on Earth enjoying my life, not eking out a few more years for the sake of it. yobbotony

Alcohol in moderation can be lovely, but it’s never good for you biologically . I work in the wine industry and I’d cheerfully see paid advertising for it banned. EBGB

I only watch television when I’m stuck in a hotel with nothing better to do, so what to other people may seem a gradual change is for me accelerated: the shift of TV advertising from tobacco to gambling. There isn’t even tobacco advertising at Formula One or in football stadiums, but gambling advertising is ubiquitous , during sports programmes and between them. Socialismnow

Since pre-agricultural ages, every civilisation on every inhabited continent has left evidence that they produced alcoholic drinks. Various governments have tried to control the production, but the starting point is yeasts available in the wild and some form of starch or sugar. The production and consumption are so historically entwined in society and economics that it has seriously been proposed that production of beer and wine was a major driver for organising agriculture; storing grain for brewing predates storing it for bread.

Tobacco is a relative latecomer. Growing it is nowhere near as widespread globally and producing usable forms of tobacco tends to be on a more industrial scale than possible with microbreweries, wineries or even when most brewing was for the household. Tobacco advertising rules, if not sales, have been simpler to enforce worldwide – they are absent from practically all sport played or watched internationally. Restricting the sale of wine, beer or many spirits in the same way comes up against producers far more integrated into the economy of many countries. Scottish whisky exports are worth £5.6bn a year and the industry claims to employ 66,000 people directly or indirectly. The EU wine industry has a turnover of about €130bn (£110bn) and accounts for 1.4% of employment. leadballoon

Yet again, like gambling, pretty much every comment about alcohol focuses on people who overdo it. What about the vast majority, who enjoy a few relaxing or convivial drinks? Should car adverts be banned because some people drive recklessly? RevGreen

Nothing, I repeat nothing, will ever make me understand why humans love alcohol so much. I honestly just do not get it. I never touch the stuff and I think, to my best memory, I have only ever been inside one pub. The destruction this stuff causes is worldwide. But at least its makers are making handsome profits. The baseline is always money. offy121

If you have never touched the stuff and only once been in a pub, how can you judge? I spent a couple of hours in the pub at lunchtime today (the joy of being semi retired); I enjoyed a couple of pints of well-brewed and well-kept beer in the company of about 30 people. No fighting, nobody drunk and a fair amount of coffee served up. A random natter with one of the regulars that was basically one of those Cabbages and Kings conversations. If you don’t like booze, fine, but a good pub is a fantastic community asset that you should consider frequenting. bunkendrum

I’d say it’s cultural. Alcohol causes endless suffering for many, including (or maybe especially) those who don’t drink. People often minimise the harm it does, but it’s a damaging drug, far more harmful than some illegal drugs. It’s totally illogical. LorLala

There is no rationality behind alcohol, tobacco and other drugs policy. You might start by asking why alcohol and tobacco are legal, but cannabis, MDMA and psilocybin aren’t. JohnnyVodka

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The effects of alcohol use on academic achievement in high school

Ana i. balsa.

a Research Professor, Center for Applied Research on Poverty, Family, and Education, Department of Economics, Universidad de Montevideo; Prudencio de Pena 2440, Montevideo, 11600, Uruguay; Phone: (+598 2) 707 4461 ext 300; Fax: (+598 2) 707 4461 ext 325; yu.ude.mu@aslaba

Laura M. Giuliano

b Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, United States; [email protected]

Michael T. French

c Professor of Health Economics, Health Economics Research Group, Department of Sociology, Department of Economics, and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, United States; ude.imaim@hcnerfm

This paper examines the effects of alcohol use on high school students’ quality of learning. We estimate fixed-effects models using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Our primary measure of academic achievement is the student’s GPA abstracted from official school transcripts. We find that increases in alcohol consumption result in small yet statistically significant reductions in GPA for male students and in statistically non-significant changes for females. For females, however, higher levels of drinking result in self-reported academic difficulty. The fixed-effects results are substantially smaller than OLS estimates, underscoring the importance of addressing unobserved individual heterogeneity.

1. Introduction

In the United States, one in four individuals between the ages of 12 and 20 drinks alcohol on a monthly basis, and a similar proportion of 12 th graders consumes five or more drinks in a row at least once every two weeks ( Newes-Adeyi, Chen, Williams, & Faden, 2007 ). Several studies have reported that alcohol use during adolescence affects educational attainment by decreasing the number of years of schooling and the likelihood of completing school ( Chatterji & De Simone, 2005 ; Cook & Moore, 1993 ; Gil-Lacruz & Molina, 2007 ; Koch & McGeary, 2005 ; McCluskey, Krohn, Lizotte, & Rodriguez, 2002 ; NIDA, 1998 ; Renna, 2007 ; Yamada, Kendrix, & Yamada, 1996 ) Other research using alternative estimation techniques suggests that the effects of teen drinking on years of education and schooling completion are very small and/or non-significant ( Chatterji, 2006 ; Dee & Evans, 2003 ; Koch & Ribar, 2001 ).

Despite a growing literature in this area, no study has convincingly answered the question of whether alcohol consumption inhibits high school students’ learning. Alcohol consumption could be an important determinant of how much a high school student learns without having a strong impact on his or her decision to stay in school or attend college. This question is fundamental and timely, given recent research showing that underage drinkers are susceptible to the immediate consequences of alcohol use, including blackouts, hangovers, and alcohol poisoning, and are at elevated risk of neurodegeneration (particularly in regions of the brain responsible for learning and memory), impairments in functional brain activity, and neurocognitive defects ( Zeigler et al., 2004 ).

A common and comprehensive measure of high school students’ learning is Grade Point Average (GPA). GPA is an important outcome because it is a key determinant of college admissions decisions and of job quality for those who do not attend college. Only a few studies have explored the association between alcohol use and GPA. Wolaver (2002) and Williams, Powell, and Wechsler (2003) have studied this association among college students, while DeSimone and Wolaver (2005) have investigated the effects of underage drinking on GPA during high school. The latter study found a negative association between high school drinking and grades, although it is not clear whether the effects are causal or the result of unobserved heterogeneity.

Understanding the relationship between teenage drinking and high school grades is pertinent given the high prevalence of alcohol use among this age cohort and recent research on adolescent brain development suggesting that early heavy alcohol use may have negative effects on the physical development of brain structure ( Brown, Tapert, Granholm, & Delis, 2000 ; Tapert & Brown, 1999 ). By affecting the quality of learning, underage drinking could have an impact on both college admissions and job quality independent of its effects on years of schooling or school completion.

In this paper, we estimate the effects of drinking in high school on the quality of learning as captured by high school GPA. The analysis employs data from Waves 1 and 2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative study that captures health-related behaviors of adolescents in grades 7 through 12 and their outcomes in young adulthood. Our analysis contributes to the literature in several ways. First, we focus on the effect of drinking on academic achievement during high school. To date, and to the best of our knowledge, only one other study in the literature has analyzed the consequences of underage drinking on high school GPA. Second, rather than rely on self-reported GPA, we use objective GPA data from academic transcripts, reducing the potential for systematic biases in the estimation results. Third, we take advantage of the longitudinal nature of the Add Health data and use fixed-effects models to purge the analysis of time invariant unobserved heterogeneity. Fixed-effects techniques are superior to instrumental variables (IV) estimation when the strength and reliability of the instruments are suspect ( French & Popovici, 2009 ). Finally, we explore a variety of mechanisms that could underlie a detrimental effect of alcohol use on grades. In addition to analyzing mediators related to exposure to education (days of school skipped), we investigate the effect of drinking on students’ ability to focus on and adhere to academic objectives.

2. Background and significance

Behavioral research has found that educational performance is highly correlated with substance abuse (e.g., Bukstein, Cornelius, Trunzo, Kelly, & Wood, 2005 ; Hawkins, Catalano, & Miller, 1992 ). Economic studies that look at the link between alcohol use and educational outcomes have customarily focused on measures of educational attainment such as graduation (from high school or college), college matriculation, and years of school completed (e.g., Bray, Zarkin, Ringwalt, & Qi, 2000 ; Chatterji, 2006 ; Cook & Moore, 1993 ; Dee & Evans 2003 ; Koch & Ribar, 2001 ; Mullahy & Sindelar, 1994 ; Renna, 2008 ; Yamada et al., 1996 ). Consistent with the behavioral research, early economic studies found that drinking reduced educational attainment. But the most rigorous behavioral studies and the early economic studies of attainment both faced the same limitation: they were cross-sectional and subject to potential omitted variables bias. Some of these cross-sectional economic studies attempted to improve estimation by using instrumental variables (IV). Cook and Moore (1993) and Yamada et al. (1996) found that heavy or frequent drinking in high school adversely affects high school and college completion. Nevertheless, the validity and reliability of the instruments in these studies are open to debate ( Chatterji, 2006 ; Dee & Evans, 2003 ; French & Popovici, 2009 ).

By contrast, more recent economic studies that arguably use better estimation methods have found that drinking has modest or negligible effects on educational attainment. Dee and Evans (2003) studied the effects of teen drinking on high school completion, college entrance, and college persistence. Employing changes in the legal drinking age across states over time as an instrument, they found no significant effect of teen drinking on educational attainment. Koch and Ribar (2001) reached a similar conclusion applying family fixed effects and instrumental variables to NLSY data. Though they found that drinking had a significant negative effect on the amount of schooling completed among men, the effect was small. Finally, Chatterji (2006) used a bivariate probit model of alcohol use and educational attainment to gauge the sensitivity of the estimates to various assumptions about the correlation of unobservable determinants of these variables. She concluded that there is no evidence of a causal relationship between alcohol use and educational attainment when the correlation coefficient is fixed at plausible levels.

Alcohol use could conceivably affect a student’s quality of learning and academic performance regardless of its impact on school completion. This possibility is suggested by Renna (2008) , who uses a research design similar to that used by Dee and Evans (2003) and finds that although binge drinking does not affect high school completion rates, it does significantly increase the probability that a student graduates with a GED rather than a high school diploma. Drinking could affect learning through a variety of mechanisms. Recent neurological research suggests that underage drinking can impair learning directly by causing alterations in the structure and function of the developing brain with consequences reaching far beyond adolescence ( Brown et al., 2000 ; White & Swartzwelder, 2004 ). Negative effects of alcohol use can emerge in areas such as planning and executive functioning, memory, spatial operations, and attention ( Brown et al., 2000 ; Giancola & Mezzich, 2000 ; Tapert & Brown, 1999 ). Alcohol use could also affect performance by reducing the number of hours committed to studying, completing homework assignments, and attending school.

We are aware of five economic studies that have examined whether drinking affects learning per se. Bray (2005) analyzed this issue indirectly by studying the effect of high school students’ drinking on subsequent wages, as mediated through human capital accumulation. He found that moderate high school drinking had a positive effect on returns to education and therefore on human capital accumulation. Heavier drinking reduced this gain slightly, but net effects were still positive. The other four studies approached the question directly by focusing on the association between drinking and GPA. Three of the GPA studies used data from the Harvard College Alcohol Study. Analyzing data from the study’s 1993 wave, both Wolaver (2002) and Williams et al. (2003) estimated the impact of college drinking on the quality of human capital acquisition as captured by study hours and GPA. Both studies found that drinking had a direct negative effect on GPA and an indirect negative effect through reduced study hours. Wolaver (2007) used data from the 1993 and 1997 waves and found that both high school and college binge drinking were associated with lower college GPA for males and females. For females, however, study time in college was negatively correlated with high school drinking but positively associated with college drinking.

To our knowledge, only one study has looked specifically at adolescent drinking and high school GPA. Analyzing data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, DeSimone and Wolaver (2005) used standard regression analysis to estimate whether drinking affected high school GPA. Even after controlling for many covariates, they found that drinking had a significant negative effect. Their results showed that the GPAs of binge drinkers were 0.4 points lower on average for both males and females. They also found that the effect of drinking on GPA peaked for ninth graders and declined thereafter and that drinking affected GPA more by reducing the likelihood of high grades than by increasing the likelihood of low grades.

All four GPA studies found that drinking has negative effects on GPA, but they each faced two limitations. First, they relied on self-reported GPA, which can produce biased results due to recall mistakes and intentional misreporting ( Zimmerman, Caldwell, & Bernat, 2006 ). Second, they used cross-sectional data. Despite these studies’ serious efforts to address unobserved individual heterogeneity, it remains questionable whether they identified a causal link between drinking and GPA.

In sum, early cross-sectional studies of educational attainment and GPA suggest that drinking can have a sizeable negative effect on both outcomes. By contrast, more recent studies of educational attainment that use improved estimation methods to address the endogeneity of alcohol use have found that drinking has negligible effects. The present paper is the first study of GPA that controls for individual heterogeneity in a fixed-effects framework, and our findings are consistent with the more recent studies of attainment that find small or negligible effects of alcohol consumption.

Add Health is a nationally representative study that catalogues health-related behaviors of adolescents in grades 7 through 12 and associated outcomes in young adulthood. An initial in-school survey was administered to 90,118 students attending 175 schools during the 1994/1995 school year. From the initial in-school sample, 20,745 students (and their parents) were administered an additional in-home interview in 1994–1995 and were re-interviewed one year later. In 2001–2002, Add Health respondents (aged 18 to 26) were re-interviewed in a third wave to investigate the influence of health-related behaviors during adolescence on individuals when they are young adults. During the Wave 3 data collection, Add Health respondents were asked to sign a Transcript Release Form (TRF) that authorized Add Health to identify schools last attended by study participants and request official transcripts from the schools. TRFs were signed by approximately 92% of Wave 3 respondents (about 70% of Wave 1 respondents).

The main outcome of interest, GPA, was abstracted from school transcripts and linked to respondents at each wave. Because most of the in-home interviews during Waves 1 and 2 were conducted during the Spring or Summer (at the end of the school year) and alcohol use questions referred to the past 12 months, we linked the in-home questionnaires with GPA data corresponding to the school year in which the respondent was enrolled or had just completed at the time of the interview.

The in-home questionnaires in Waves 1 and 2 offer extensive information on the student’s background, risk-taking behaviors, and other personal and family characteristics. These instruments were administered by computer assisted personal interview (CAPI) and computer assisted self-interview (CASI) techniques for more sensitive questions such as those on alcohol, drug, and tobacco use. Studies show that the mode of data collection can affect the level of reporting of sensitive behaviors. Both traditional self-administration and computer assisted self-administered interviews have been shown to increase reports of substance use or other risky behaviors relative to interviewer-administered approaches ( Azevedo, Bastos, Moreira, Lynch, & Metzger, 2006 ; Tourangeau & Smith, 1996 ; Wright, Aquilino, & Supple, 1998 ). Several measures of alcohol use were constructed on the basis of the CAPI/CASI questions: (1) whether the student drank alcohol at least once per week in the past 12 months, (2) whether the student binged (drank five or more drinks in a row) at least once per month in the past 12 months, (3) the average number of days per month on which the student drank in the past 12 months, (4) the average number of drinks consumed on any drinking day in the past 12 months, and (5) the total number of drinks per month consumed by the student in the past year.

Individual characteristics obtained from the in-home interviews included age, race, gender, grade in school, interview date, body mass index, religious beliefs and practices, employment status, health status, tobacco use, and illegal drug use. To capture environmental changes for respondents who changed schools, we constructed indicators for whether the respondent attended an Add Health sample school or sister school (e.g. the high school’s main feeder school) in each wave. We also considered family characteristics such as family structure, whether English was spoken at home, the number of children in the household, whether the resident mother and resident father worked, whether parents worked in blue- or white-collar jobs, and whether the family was on welfare. Finally, we took into account a number of variables describing interview and household characteristics as assessed by the interviewer: whether a parent(s) or other adults were present during the interview; whether the home was poorly kept; whether the home was in a rural, suburban, or commercial area; whether the home environment raised any safety concerns; and whether there was evidence of alcohol use in the household.

Respondents to the in-home surveys were also asked several questions about how they were doing in school. We constructed measures of how often the respondents skipped school, whether they had been suspended, and whether they were having difficulties paying attention in school, getting along with teachers, or doing their homework. We analyzed these secondary outcomes as possible mediators of an effect of alcohol use on GPA.

Our fixed-effects methodology required high school GPA data for Waves 1 and 2. For this reason, we restricted the sample to students in grades 9, 10, or 11 in Wave 1 (N=22,792) who were re-interviewed in Waves 2 and 3 (N=14,390), not mentally disabled (N=13,632), and for whom transcript data were available at Wave 3 (N=10,430). In addition, we excluded 1,846 observations that had missing values on at least one of the explanatory or control variables. 1 The final sample had 8,584 observations, which corresponded to Wave 1 and Wave 2 responses for 4,292 students with no missing information on high school GPA or other covariates across both waves. Male respondents accounted for 48% of the sample.

Table 1 shows summary statistics for the analysis sample by wave and gender. Abstracted GPA averages 2.5 for male students and 2.8 for female students, 2 with similar values in Waves 1 and 2. Approximately 9% of males and 6% of females reported drinking alcohol at least one time per week in Wave 1. The prevalence of binge drinking (consuming five or more drinks in a single episode) at least once a month is slightly higher: 11% among males and 7% among females. On average, the frequency of drinking in Wave 1 is 1.34 days per month for male respondents and 0.94 days per month for female respondents, while drinking intensity averages 2.8 drinks per episode for males and 2.2 drinks per episode for females. By Wave 2, alcohol consumption increases in all areas for both males and females. The increases for males are larger, ranging from an 18% increase in the average number of drinks per episode to a 55% increase in the fraction who binge monthly.

Summary Statistics

Note : Based on responses to survey questions regarding most recently completed school year.

Of the Wave 1 respondents, 87% of males and 90% of females had skipped school at least once in the past year, with males averaging 1.47 days skipped and females averaging 1.37 days. Further, 11% of males and 7% of females had been suspended at least once. Regarding the school difficulty measures, 50% of male respondents in Wave 1 reported at least one type of regular difficulty with school: 32% had difficulty paying attention, 15% did not get along with their teachers, and 35% had problems doing their homework. Among females, 40% had at least one difficulty: 25% with paying attention, 11% with teachers, and 26% with homework.

Table 2 tabulates changes in dichotomous measures of problem drinking by gender. Among males, 82.6% did not drink weekly in either wave; 8.1% became weekly drinkers in Wave 2; 4.8% stopped drinking weekly in Wave 2; and the remaining 4.5% drank weekly in both waves. Among females, 88.5% did not drink weekly in either wave; 5.3% became weekly drinkers in Wave 2; 3.7% stopped drinking weekly in Wave 2; and 2.5% drank weekly in both waves. The trends in monthly binging were similar, with the number of students who became monthly bingers exceeding that of students who stopped bingeing monthly in Wave 2. The proportion of respondents reporting binge-drinking monthly in both waves (6.6% and 3.4% for men and women, respectively) was higher than the fraction of students who reported drinking weekly in both waves.

Tabulation of Changes in Dichotomous Measures of Alcohol Use By Gender

4. Empirical methods and estimation issues

We examined the impact of adolescent drinking on GPA using fixed-effects estimation techniques. The following equation captures the relationship of interest:

where GPA it is grade point average of individual i during the Wave t school year, A it is a measure of alcohol consumption, X it is a set of other explanatory variables, c i are unobserved individual effects that are constant over time, ε it is an error term uncorrelated with A it and X it , and α, β a , and β x are parameters to estimate.

The coefficient of interest is β a , the effect of alcohol consumption on GPA. The key statistical problem in the estimation of β a is that alcohol consumption is likely to be correlated with individual-specific unobservable characteristics that also affect GPA. For instance, an adolescent with a difficult family background may react by shirking responsibilities at school and may, at the same time, be more likely to participate in risky activities. For this reason, OLS estimation of Equation (1) used with cross-sectional or pooled longitudinal data is likely to produce biased estimates of β a . In this paper, we took advantage of the two high school-administered waves in Add Health and estimated β a using fixed-effects techniques. Because Waves 1 and 2 were only one year apart, it is likely that most unobserved individual characteristics that are correlated with both GPA and alcohol use are constant over this short period. Subtracting the mean values of each variable over time, Equation (1) can be rewritten as:

Equation (2) eliminates time invariant individual heterogeneity ( c i ) and the corresponding bias associated with OLS estimation of Equation (1) .

We estimated Equation (2) using different sets of time-varying controls ( X it ). 3 We began by controlling only for unambiguously exogenous variables and progressively added variables that were increasingly likely to be affected by alcohol consumption. The first set of controls included only the respondent’s grade level, indicators for attending the sample school or sister school, and the date of the interview. In a second specification, we added household characteristics and interviewer remarks about the household and the interview. This specification includes indicators for the presence of parents and others during the interview and thus controls for a potentially important source of measurement error in the alcohol consumption variables. 4 The third specification added to the second specification those variables more likely to be endogenous such as BMI, religious beliefs/practices, employment, and health status. A fourth specification included tobacco and illegal drug use. By adding these behavioral controls, which could either be mediators or independent correlates of the drinking-GPA association, we examined whether the fixed-effects estimates were influenced by unmeasured time variant individual characteristics.

The fifth and sixth specifications were aimed at assessing possible mechanisms flowing from changes in alcohol use to changes in GPA. Previous research has found that part of the association between alcohol consumption and grades can be explained by a reduction in study hours. Add Health did not directly ask respondents about study effort. It did, however, ask about suspensions and days skipped from school. These school attendance variables were added to the set of controls to test whether an effect of alcohol use on human capital accumulation worked extensively through the quantity of, or exposure to, schooling. Alternatively, an effect of alcohol use on grades could be explained by temporary or permanent alterations in the structure and functioning of an adolescent’s developing brain with resulting changes in levels of concentration and understanding (an intensive mechanism). To test for the mediating role of this pathway, we added a set of dichotomous variables measuring whether the student reported having trouble at least once a week with each of the following: (i) paying attention in school, (ii) getting along with teachers, and (iii) doing homework.

Finally, we considered the number of days the student skipped school and the likelihood of having difficulties with school as two alternative outcomes and estimated the association between these variables and alcohol use, applying the same fixed-effects methodology as in Equation (2) . To analyze difficulties with school as an outcome, we constructed a dichotomous variable that is equal to one if the student faced at least one of the three difficulties listed above. We estimated the effect of alcohol use on this variable using a fixed-effects logit technique.

Separate regressions were run for male and female respondents. The literature shows that males and females behave differently both in terms of alcohol use ( Ham & Hope, 2003 ; Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2007 ; Schulenberg, O’Malley, Bachman, Wadsworth, & Johnston, 1996 ; Wechsler, Davenport, Dowdall, Moeykens, & Castillo, 1994 ) and school achievement ( Dwyer & Johnson, 1997 ; Jacob, 2002 ; Kleinfeld, 1998 ). These gender differences are clearly evident in the summary statistics presented in Table 1 . Furthermore, the medical literature suggests that there may be gender differences in the impact of alcohol consumption on cognitive abilities (e.g. Hommer, 2003 ).

In addition to examining differential effects by gender, we tested for differential effects of alcohol use along three other dimensions: age, the direction of change in alcohol use (increases vs. decreases), and initial GPA. These tests, as well as other extensions and robustness checks, are described in Section 6.

Table 3 shows the fixed-effects estimates for β a from Equation (2) . Each cell depicts a different model specification defined by a particular measure of alcohol use and a distinctive set of control variables. Rows (a)-(d) denote the alcohol use variable(s) in each specification, and Columns (1)-(6) correspond to the different sets of covariates. Control variables are added hierarchically from (1) to (3). We first adjusted only by grade level, sample school and sister school indicators, and interview date (Column (1)). We then added time-varying household characteristics and interviewer assessments (Column (2)), followed by other individual time-varying controls (Column (3)). Column (4) adds controls for the use of other substances, which could either be correlates or consequences of alcohol use. Columns (5) and (6) consider other potential mediators of the effects found in (1)-(3) such as days skipped, suspensions from school, and academic difficulties.

Fixed effects Estimates; Dependent Variable = GPA

Notes : See Table 1 for list of control variables in each model specification. Robust standard errors in parentheses;

The results for males provide evidence of a negative yet small effect of alcohol use on GPA. No major changes were observed in the estimates across the different specifications that incrementally added more controls, suggesting that the results are probably robust to unmeasured time-varying characteristics. In what follows, therefore, we describe the results in Column (3), which controls for the greatest number of individual time-varying factors (with the exception of tobacco and illicit drug use). Weekly drinking and monthly binge drinking are both negatively associated with GPA, but neither of these coefficients is statistically significant (Rows (a) and (b)). The continuous measure of alcohol consumption has a statistically significant coefficient (Row (c)), suggesting that increasing one’s alcohol intake by 100 drinks per month reduces GPA by 0.07 points, or 2.8% relative to the mean. The results in Row (d) suggest that variation in both the frequency and the intensity of alcohol use contributes to the estimated effect on grades. An increase of one day per month in drinking frequency reduces GPA by 0.005 points, and consumption of one additional drink per episode reduces GPA by 0.004 points.

Columns (4)-(6) report the estimates of interest after controlling for use of other substances, days skipped or suspended from school, and difficulties with school. Relative to the effects identified in Column (3), controlling for tobacco and illegal drug use reduces the negative effect of total number of drinks on GPA by 9% or 0.006 GPA points (see row (c), Column (4)). Adding the school attendance variables to the set of controls in Column (3) results in a point estimate of −0.06 or 0.01 GPA points below the coefficient in Column (3) (see Column (5)). Adding the school difficulty variables results in a reduction in GPA of 0.007 GPA points or a 10% decrease relative to the estimate in Column (3). While not shown in the table, the inclusion of both school difficulty and attendance variables as controls explains approximately 20% of the effect of alcohol use on grades, with the alcohol use estimates remaining statistically significant at the 10% level.

For females, the estimated coefficients are much smaller than those for males, and for two measures (binge-drinking and drinking frequency), the estimates are actually positive. However, none of the coefficients are statistically significant at conventional levels. 5 Interestingly, after controlling for substance use, difficulties with school, and school attendance, the estimates become less negative or more positive. But they remain statistically non significant.

Table 4 shows the effect of alcohol use on the number of school days skipped during the past year. These results are qualitatively similar to the findings for GPA, suggesting some small and statistically significant effects for males but no significant effects for females. For males, increasing the number of drinks per month by 100 leads to an additional 0.72 days skipped (p<0.10) when controlling for household features, interviewer comments, and individual characteristics such as body mass index, religiosity, employment, and health status (see Column (3), Row (c)). Controlling for tobacco and illegal drug use reduces the coefficient slightly to 0.69 days. The results in Row (d) suggest that this effect is driven mainly by variation in drinking intensity, with an additional drink per episode resulting in an increase of 0.06 days skipped.

Fixed-effects Estimates; Dependent Variable = School Days Skipped

Notes : Robust standard errors in parentheses;

Table 5 contains estimates of the relationship between alcohol use and our dichotomous measure of having difficulty in school. For males, we found one small but statistically significant effect: consumption of an additional 100 drinks per month is associated with a 4% increase in the probability of having trouble in school. For females, the estimated coefficients are all positive and larger than those found for males, and four out of five are statistically significant. The probability of having trouble in school is roughly 11% higher for females who drink weekly relative to those who do not, and there is a similar effect for monthly binge drinking (Rows (a) and (b)). Furthermore, the likelihood of difficulties increases by 7% with an additional 100 drinks per month (Row (c)). These findings suggest that female students suffer adverse consequences from alcohol consumption, even if these effects do not translate into lower grades. Finally, in Row (d), we see that these adverse effects are driven by increases in drinking frequency rather than drinking intensity.

Fixed-effects Logit Estimates; Dependent Variable = Difficulty with School

Notes : Dependent variable is a dummy variable equal to one if respondent had trouble at least once a week with one or more of the following: (1) paying attention in school, (2) getting along with teachers, or (3) doing homework. Robust standard errors in parentheses;

Our main results thus far point to two basic conclusions. After controlling for individual fixed effects, alcohol use in high school has a relatively minor influence on GPA. But there are also some interesting gender differences in these effects. For males, we find small negative effects on GPA that are partially mediated by increased school absences and difficulties with school-related tasks. For females, on the other hand, we find that alcohol use does not significantly affect GPA, but female drinkers encounter a higher probability of having difficulties at school.

Our basic estimates of the effects of drinking on GPA complement those of Koch and Ribar (2001) , who find small effects of drinking on school completion for males and non-significant effects for females. However, our analysis of school-related difficulties suggests that females are not immune to the consequences of drinking. Namely, females are able to compensate for the negative effects of drinking (e.g., by working harder or studying more) so that their grades are unaffected. This interpretation is consistent with Wolaver’s (2007) finding that binge drinking in college is associated with increased study hours for women but with reduced study hours for men. It is also reminiscent of findings in the educational psychology and sociology literatures that girls get better grades than boys, and some of this difference can be explained by gender differences in classroom behavior ( Downey & Vogt Yuan, 2005 ) or by greater levels of self-discipline among girls ( Duckworth & Seligman, 2006 ).

When interpreting our results, there are some important caveats to keep in mind. First, we must emphasize that they reflect the contemporaneous effects of alcohol use. As such, they say nothing about the possible cumulative effects that several years of drinking might have on academic performance. Second, we can only examine the effect of alcohol use on GPA for those students who remain in school. Unfortunately, we cannot address potential selection bias due to high school dropouts because of the high rate of missing GPA data for those students who dropped out after Wave 1. 6 Third, we acknowledge that our fixed-effects results could still be biased if we failed to account for important time-varying individual characteristics that are associated with GPA differentials across waves. It is reassuring, however, that our results are generally insensitive to the subsequent inclusion of additional time-varying (and likely endogenous) characteristics, such as health status, employment, religiosity, tobacco use, and illicit drug use. Finally, we cannot rule out possible reverse causality whereby academic achievement affects alcohol use. Future research using new waves of the data may provide further insight on this issue. In the next section, we discuss some additional issues that we are able to explore via robustness checks and extensions.

6. Robustness checks and extensions

6.1. ols versus fixed effects.

In addition to running fixed-effects models, we estimated β a using OLS. Separate regressions were run by gender and by wave. We first regressed GPA on measures of alcohol use and the full set of time-varying controls used in the fixed-effects estimation (see Column (3), Table 3 ). Next, we added other time-invariant measures such as demographics, household characteristics, and school characteristics. Finally, we controlled for tobacco and illegal drug use. The comparison between fixed-effects and OLS estimates (Appendix Table A1 ) sheds light on the extent of the bias in β ^ a OLS . For males, OLS estimates for Wave 1 were 3 to 6 times larger (more negative) than fixed-effects estimates (depending on the measure of alcohol use), and OLS estimates in Wave 2 were 3 to 4 times larger than those from the fixed-effects estimation. The bias was even more pronounced for females. Contrary to the results in Table 3 , OLS estimates for females were statistically significant, quantitatively large, and usually more negative than the estimates for males.

OLS Cross-sectional Estimates; Dependent Variable = GPA

6.2. Outlier analysis

Concerns about misreporting at the extreme tails of the alcohol use distributions led us to re-estimate the fixed-effects model after addressing these outliers. A common method for addressing extreme outliers without deleting observations is to “winsorize” ( Dixon, 1960 ). This technique reassigns all outlier values to the closest value at the beginning of the user-defined tail (e.g., 1%, 5%, or 10% tails). For the present analysis, we used both 1% and 5% tails. As a more conventional outlier approach, we also re-estimated the models after dropping those observations in the 1% tails. In both cases we winsorized or dropped the tails using the full Wave 1 and Wave 2 distribution (in levels) and then estimated differential effects.

After making these outlier corrections, the estimates for males became larger in absolute value and more significant, but the estimates for females remained statistically non-significant with no consistent pattern of change. 7 For males, dropping the 1% tails increased the effect of 100 drinks per month on GPA to −0.15 points (from −0.07 points when analyzing the full sample). Winsorizing the 5% tails further increased the estimated effect size to −0.31 points.

We offer two possible interpretations of these results for males. First, measurement error is probably more substantial among heavier drinkers and among respondents with the biggest changes in alcohol consumption across waves, which could cause attenuation bias at the top end. 8 Second, the effect of drinks per month on GPA could be smaller among male heavier drinkers, suggesting non-linear effects. Interestingly, neither of these concerns appears to be important for the analysis of females.

6.3. Differential effects

Thus far we have reported the differential effects of alcohol use on GPA for males and females. Here, we consider differential effects along three other dimensions: age, direction of change in alcohol use (increases vs. decreases), and initial GPA. To examine the first two of these effects, we added to Equation (2) interactions of the alcohol use measure with dichotomous variables indicating (i) that the student was 16 or older, and (ii) that alcohol use had decreased between Waves 1 and 2. 9 For males, the negative effects of drinking on GPA were consistently larger among respondents who were younger than 16 years old. None of the interaction terms, however, were statistically significant. We found no consistent or significant differences in the effect of alcohol consumption between respondents whose consumption increased and those whose consumption decreased between Waves 1 and 2. All results were non-significant and smaller in magnitude for females. It should be noted, however, that the lack of significant effects could be attributed, at least in part, to low statistical power as some of the disaggregated groups had less than 450 observations per wave.

To examine whether drinking is more likely to affect low achievers (those with initial low GPA) than high achievers (higher initial GPA), we estimated two fixed-effects linear probability regressions. The first regression estimated the impact of alcohol use on the likelihood of having an average GPA of C or less, and the second regression explored the effect of drinking on the likelihood of having a GPA of B- or better. For males, we found that monthly binging was negatively associated with the probability of obtaining a B- or higher average and that increases in number of drinks per month led to a higher likelihood of having a GPA of C or worse. Frequency of drinking, rather than intensity, was the trigger for having a GPA of C or worse. For females, most coefficient estimates were not significant, although the frequency of drinking was negatively associated with the probability of having a GPA of C or worse.

6.4 Self-reported versus abstracted GPA

One of the key advantages of using Add Health data is the availability of abstracted high school grades. Because most educational studies do not have such objective data, we repeated the fixed-effects estimation of Equation (2) using self-reported GPA rather than transcript-abstracted GPA. To facilitate comparison, the estimation sample was restricted to observations with both abstracted and self-reported GPA (N=2,164 for males and 2,418 for females).

The results reveal another interesting contrast between males and females. For males, the results based on self-reported grades were fairly consistent with the results based on abstracted grades, although the estimated effects of binging and drinking intensity were somewhat larger (i.e., more negative) when based on self-reported grades. But for females, the results based on self-reported grades showed positive effects of alcohol consumption that were statistically significant at the 10% level for three out of five consumption measures (monthly binging, total drinks per month, and drinks per episode). Furthermore, with the exception of the frequency measure (drinking days per month), the estimated effects were all substantially larger (i.e., more positive) when based on self-reported GPA. This suggests that females who drink more intensively tend to inflate their academic performance in school, even though their actual performance is not significantly different from that of those who drink less. Males who drink more intensely, on the other hand, may tend to deflate their academic accomplishments.

6.5. Analysis of dropouts

In Table 3 , we estimated the effects of alcohol consumption on GPA conditional on being enrolled in school during the two observation years. While increased drinking could lead an adolescent to drop out of school, reduced drinking could lead a dropout to re-enroll. Our GPA results do not address either of these possible effects. Of those who were in 9 th grade in Wave 1, roughly 2.3% dropped out before Wave 2. Of those who were in 10 th and 11 th grades in Wave 1, the dropout rates were 3.7% and 5.0%, respectively. Our core estimates would be biased if the effect of alcohol use on GPA for non-dropouts differed systematically from the unobserved effect of alcohol use on GPA for dropouts and re-enrollers in the event that these students had stayed in school continuously.

To determine whether dropouts differed significantly from non-dropouts, we compared GPA and drinking patterns across the two groups. Unfortunately, dropouts were much more likely to have missing GPA data for the years they were in school, 10 so the comparison itself has some inherent bias. Nevertheless, for those who were not missing Wave 1 GPA data, we found that mean GPA was significantly lower for dropouts (1.11) than for those students who stayed in school at least another year (2.66). Dropouts were also older in Wave 1 (16.9 vs. 15.9 years old) and more likely to be male (54% vs. 48%). They also consumed alcohol more often and with greater intensity in the first wave. While there is evidence of differences across the two groups in Wave 1, it is unclear whether dropouts would have differed systematically with respect to changes in GPA and in drinking behavior over time if they had stayed in school. Due to the small number of dropout observations with Wave 1 GPA data, we could not reliably estimate a selection correction model.

6.6. Attrition and missing data

As described in the data section, a large fraction of the Add Health respondents who were in 9th, 10th, or 11th grade in Wave 1 were excluded from our analysis either because they did not participate in Waves 2 or 3, did not have transcript data, or had missing data for one or more variables used in the analysis. (The excluded sample consisted of 7,104 individuals out of a total of 11,396 potentially eligible.) Mean characteristics were compared for individuals in the sample under analysis (N=4,292) and excluded respondents (N=7,104) in Wave 1. Those in the analysis sample had higher GPAs (both self-reported and abstracted, when available) and were less likely to have difficulties at school, to have been suspended from school, or to have skipped school. They were less likely to drink or to drink intensively if they drank. They were more likely to be female and White, speak English at home, have highly educated parents, have a resident mother or father at home, and be in good health. They were less likely to have parents on welfare, live in commercial areas or poorly kept buildings, and smoke and use drugs.

The above comparisons suggest that our estimates are representative of the sample of adolescents who participated in Waves 2 and 3 but not necessarily of the full 9 th , 10 th , and 11 th grade sample interviewed at baseline. To assess the magnitude and sign of the potential attrition bias in our estimates, we considered comparing fixed-effects estimates for these two samples using self-reported GPA as the dependent variable. But self-reported GPA also presented a considerable number of missing values, especially for those in the excluded sample at Wave 2. Complete measures of self-reported GPA in Waves 1 and 2 were available for 60% of the individuals in the analysis sample and for less than 30% of individuals in the excluded sample.

As an alternative check, we used OLS to estimate the effects of alcohol use on self-reported GPA in Wave 1 for the excluded sample, and compared these to OLS coefficients for our analysis sample in Wave 1. The effects of alcohol use on self-reported grades were smaller for individuals excluded from our core analysis. Because the excluded individuals tend to consume more alcohol, the finding of smaller effects for these individuals is consistent with either of the two explanations discussed in Section 6.2 above. First, the effect of consuming alcohol on GPA could be smaller for those who drink more. And second, measurement error is probably more serious among heavier drinkers, potentially causing more attenuation bias in this sample.

To summarize, the analysis described above suggests that some caution should be exercised when extrapolating the results in this paper to other populations. Due to missing data, our analysis excludes many of the more extreme cases (in terms of grades, substance use, and socioeconomic status). However, our analysis suggests that the effects of alcohol use on grades are, if anything, smaller for these excluded individuals. It therefore supports our main conclusions that the effects of alcohol use on GPA tend to be small and that failure to account for unobserved individual heterogeneity is responsible for some of the large negative estimates identified in previous research.

7. Conclusion

Though a number of investigations have studied the associations between alcohol use and years of schooling, less is known about the impact of adolescent drinking on the process and quality of learning for those who remain in school. Moreover, studies that have examined the impact of drinking on learning have faced two important limitations. First, they have relied on self-reported grades as the key measure of learning and are therefore subject to potential biases that result from self-reporting. Second, they have relied on cross-sectional data and suffer from potential biases due either to unobserved individual heterogeneity or to weak or questionable instrumental variables.

In the present study, we contribute to the existing literature by exploiting several unique features of the nationally representative Add Health survey. First, we measure learning with grade point averages obtained from the respondents’ official school transcripts. Second, we exploit Add Health’s longitudinal design to estimate models with individual fixed effects. This technique eliminates the bias that results from time-invariant unobserved individual heterogeneity in the determinants of alcohol use and GPA. Finally, we explore a variety of pathways that could explain the association between alcohol use and grades. In particular, we examine the effects of alcohol consumption on both the quantity of schooling—as measured by days of school skipped—and the quality—as measured by difficulties with concentrating in school, getting along with teachers, or completing homework.

The main results show that, in general, increases in alcohol consumption result in statistically significant but quantitatively small reductions in GPA for male students and in statistically non-significant changes for females. For both males and females, comparisons of the fixed-effects models with standard cross-sectional models suggest that large biases can result from the failure to adequately control for unobserved individual heterogeneity. Our findings are thus closely aligned with those of Koch and Ribar (2001) and Dee and Evans (2003) , who reach a similar conclusion regarding the effects of drinking on school completion.

Our analysis also reveals some interesting gender differences in how alcohol consumption affects learning in high school. Our results suggest that for males, alcohol consumption has a small negative effect on GPA and this effect is partially mediated by increased school absences and by difficulties with school-related tasks. For females, however, we find that alcohol use does not significantly affect GPA, even though it significantly increases the probability of encountering difficulties at school. Gender differences in high school performance are well documented in the educational psychology and sociology literatures, yet no previous studies have estimated gender differences in high school learning that are directly associated with alcohol use. Our study is therefore unique in that regard.

Finally, our study also highlights the potential pitfalls of using self-reported grades to measure academic performance. Not only do we find evidence that use of self-reports leads to bias; we also find that the bias differs by gender, as drinking is associated with grade inflation among females and grade deflation among males. Hence, the conceptual discoveries uncovered in this research may be as important for future investigations as the empirical results are for current educational programs and policies.

Acknowledgements

Financial assistance for this study was provided by research grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01 AA15695, R01 AA13167, and R03 AA016371) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (RO1 DA018645). This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website ( http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth ). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis. We gratefully acknowledge the input of several colleagues at the University of Miami. We are also indebted to Allison Johnson, William Russell, and Carmen Martinez for editorial and administrative assistance. The authors are entirely responsible for the research and results reported in this paper, and their position or opinions do not necessarily represent those of the University of Miami, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, or the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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1 Due to a significant fraction of missing responses, we imputed household income and household welfare status using both predicted values on the basis of other covariates and the sample mean for households that were also missing some of the predicting covariates. We added dummy variables to indicate when an observation was imputed.

2 Grades and numerical grade-point equivalents have been established for varying levels of a student’s academic performance. These grade-point equivalents are used to determine a student’s grade-point average. Grades of A, A-, and B+ with respective grade-point equivalents of 4.00, 3.67, and 3.33 represent an “excellent” quality of performance. Grades of B, B−, and C+ with grade-point equivalents of 3.00, 2.67, and 2.33 represent a “good” quality of performance. A grade of C with grade-point equivalent of 2.00 represents a “satisfactory” level of performance, a grade of D with grade-point equivalent of 1.00 represents a “poor” quality of performance, and a grade of F with grade-point equivalent of 0.00 represents failure.

3 Note that some demographics (e.g., race, ethnicity) and other variables that are constant over time do not appear in Equation (2) because they present no variation across waves.

4 Of particular concern is the possibility that measurement error due to misreporting varies across waves—either because of random recall errors or because of changes in the interview conditions. (For example, the proportion of interviews in which others were present declined from roughly 42% to 25% between Wave 1 and Wave 2.) Such measurement error could lead to attenuation bias in our fixed-effects model. On the other hand, reporting biases that are similar and stable over time are eliminated by the fixed-effects specification.

5 We tested the significance of these differences by pooling males and females and including an interaction of a gender dummy with the alcohol consumption measure in each model. We found statistically significant differences in the effects of monthly bingeing, drinks per month, and drinking days per month.

6 If alcohol use has small or negligible effects on school completion - as found by Chatterji (2006) , Dee and Evans (2003) , and Koch and Ribar (2001) - then such selection bias will also be small.

7 These results are not presented in the tables but are available from the authors upon request.

8 Examination of the outliers showed that only 15% of those who reported a total number of drinks above the 95th percentile of the distribution did so in both waves.

9 These fixed-effects regressions were adjusted by the same set of controls as in Table (3) , Column (3).

10 More than two-thirds of those who dropped out between Waves 1 and 2 were missing Wave 1 GPA data

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Alcohol And Tobacco Advertising Should Be Heavily Regulated Or Banned Altogether Argumentative Essay

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Business , Health , Products , Company , Alcoholism , Tobacco , Alcohol , Smoking

Published: 03/02/2020

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Alcohol and Tobacco Advertising should be Heavily Regulated or Banned Altogether? Agree or Disagree? In an attempt to reach a massive potential market, companies have array of options to choose from, but over time advertisement has proven to be an avoidable choice in this pursuit. Since all the companies have the right to buy air time on any media to advertise their product, alcohol and tobacco manufacturing companies have taken this advantage to spread their products (Harrison, Roy, and Waun 59-65). However, there have been debates for decades now, whether these two products need to abolished. Because high health risks are associated with consumption of alcohol and tobacco products, women, adolescences, and expectant mother are the most vulnerable. Besides being naturally dangerous, they are causal factors of various diseases. These include varied cancers, respiratory complications, liver cirrhosis, and heart diseases (Watson, Victor, and Sherma 284-289). In cases of long term use, they result in deaths. Therefore, since lives are precious than economic gains attain from alcohol and tobacco, their advertisements should be block and efforts directed to sweep them out of the community completely. During the advertisement of alcohol and tobacco product, persuasive approaches are implemented where images of health people drinking and smoking while having merry moment are used. According to research by Haustein and David, the mythical imageries applied have a tremendous impact on adolescence (5-8). Annually, there have been programs trying to save fifty percent of adolescences indulged in these harmful substances, but with the frequent adverts on media, the effort and resource channeled for it go to waste. As a result, school dropouts, early pregnancy, high infection rates of sexually transmitted diseases has been registered in adolescences under influence of alcohol and tobacco. Notably, their academic performances also deteriorate alongside their health (Schmitz, and Richard 68). Ultimately, they become societal bothers since they stair head societal problems including crimes, rapes cases, and poverty. Therefore, to curb these menaces and also save the innocent adolescences, alcohol and tobacco advertisement masterminding the whole mess should be abolished. When it comes to diseases, statistics depicts that approximately more than a million people perish from direct and indirect effect of alcohol and tobacco annually in United States alone. Cigarettes alone, contributes seventy percent of the statistics through cancer and respiratory related infections (Bayard 34). Also, nonsmokers who by accident inhale unfiltered chemical content of tobacco smoke are highly vulnerable. Pregnant women using both or either tobacco or alcohol risk themselves and the babies they are exacting. As a result, they are likely to give birth to babies with fatal alcohol disorder (FAD) and or fatal alcohol effects (FAE) (Watson, Victor, and Sherma 305). Further, these children are prone of suffering mental disorientations in the future. On the other hand, deaths emanating from a fire started by carelessly dropped cigarette filters have claimed thousands of lives every year. Considered the two in terms of human health and physical safety and wellbeing, cigarettes and alcohol advertisement should be abolished Economically, these two products are among the highly taxed thereby, making them large gross domestic product contributor. The heavy taxes levies have been applied in an endeavor to discourage the users (Bayard 43). But, there are advertisements by the companies to count tackle that, where consumers of these drugs have an opportunity to win prizes out of continues consumptions. This has not only swayed people, but it has also deteriorated users of these substances economically. Both being addictive substances, their users are unable to control their consumption rate and this has impacted financial irresponsibility on parents affected since they overspend on the drags forgetting their family responsibilities (Harrison, Roy, and Waun 78). Therefore, why should alcohol and tobacco advertisement still stand with these kinds of damages they cause? In summation, health hazards impacted by both alcohol and tobacco as a result of misleading adverts is worrying and need urgent responses measures to curb further damages. Lack of informed and autonomous decisions by adolescences makes them gullible to false adverts on alcohol and tobacco. In totality, this drugs need to be completely made illegal starting with completely banning their adverts.

Works Cited

Bayard, Steven P. Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders. Washington, DC: Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1992. Print. Harrison, Louis B, Roy B. Sessions, and Waun K. Hong. Head and Neck Cancer: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008. Print. Haustein, K.-O, and David Groneberg. Tobacco or Health?Berlin: Springer, 2010. Print. Schmitz, Cecilia M, and Richard A. Gray. Smoking: The Health Consequences of Tobacco Use : an Annotated Bibliography with Analytical Introduction. Ann Arbor, Mich: Pierian Press, 1995. Print. Watson, Ronald R, Victor R. Preedy, and Sherma Zibadi. Alcohol, Nutrition, and Health Consequences. New York: Humana Press, 2013. Print.

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Text preview of this essay: This page of the essay has 2,839 words. Download the full version above. Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs are affect youth negatively. Youth especially student's e.g. secondary and tertiary students abuse alcohol, tobacco and other Drugs. Drugs such as tobacco, cocaine and marijuana are the major drugs which ...
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According to the CDC Report of Smoking and Tobacco Use, " cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the U.S, including [an additional] 41,000 deaths from secondhand smoke". An additional report by the CDC on Alcohol Use suggests that, "excessive alcohol use leads to 88,000 deaths year".
Essay on Smoking in English for Students
500 Words Essay On Smoking. One of the most common problems we are facing in today's world which is killing people is smoking. A lot of people pick up this habit because of stress, personal issues and more. In fact, some even begin showing it off. When someone smokes a cigarette, they not only hurt themselves but everyone around them.
Alcohol And Tobacco Essay Examples
Amidst the ethical question on this maternal choice, a contention insists that alcohol and tobacco non-use prenatal and at natal has increased. Doubts on its validity were noted. My hypothesis: the observation came too early both in the national English and the global contexts. The contention was hard to sustain.
303 Alcohol Titles & Essay Samples
Isopropyl Alcohol in Cosmetics and Medicine. Isopropyl is synthesized in two steps: through the reaction of propylene with sulfuric acid and the consequent hydrolysis. In the context of isopropyl alternatives as sanitizers, ethyl alcohol serves as a solid option. Drug and Alcohol Addiction: Abby's Case.
IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample 916
Therefore, alcohol should be banned globally. The negative health and social problems the alcohol creates are enormous and the banning it will bring more social stability, morality and better life expectancy. To sum up, from my point of view, cigarettes and alcohol are two greatest threats to the society and our health.
Alcohol, Smoking and Drugs Free Essay Example
Essay Sample: Before anyone ever takes a hit, or a drink, or a smoke, there is a decision made in the mind - a healthy decision or an unhealthy one. Sometimes as ... Using alcohol and tobacco at a young age - especially before secondary school-increases the risk for using other drugs later, such as marijuana and cocaine.. ...
Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems
Agree Disagree essays, like 'Tobacco and Alcohol are Drugs that Cause Addiction and Health Problems', are the most common type of questions in IELTS Writing Task 2. In contrast to classic Agree Disagree essays, 'To what extent do you agree or disagree' questions do not specifically ask you to declare your level of agreement or disagreement with the statement.
Advertising Ethics: Alcohol and Tobacco Essay Example
The economic impact that alcohol and tobacco advertising have on society is momentous. In 2008, the tobacco industry spent $9. 94 billion on advertising and the alcohol industry spent $2 billion. These costs are paid for in the products society is consuming, not to mention the deaths as well. In addition to these economic expenditures on ...
Readers reply: why are Britain's rules around advertising alcohol and
There is no rationality behind alcohol, tobacco and other drugs policy. You might start by asking why alcohol and tobacco are legal, but cannabis, MDMA and psilocybin aren't. JohnnyVodka
The effects of alcohol use on academic achievement in high school
1. Introduction. In the United States, one in four individuals between the ages of 12 and 20 drinks alcohol on a monthly basis, and a similar proportion of 12 th graders consumes five or more drinks in a row at least once every two weeks (Newes-Adeyi, Chen, Williams, & Faden, 2007).Several studies have reported that alcohol use during adolescence affects educational attainment by decreasing ...
Argumentative Essay On Alcohol And Tobacco Advertising Should Be
In summation, health hazards impacted by both alcohol and tobacco as a result of misleading adverts is worrying and need urgent responses measures to curb further damages. Lack of informed and autonomous decisions by adolescences makes them gullible to false adverts on alcohol and tobacco.
PDF S.18 products and e-liquids
fiscal year 2023, sales of other tobacco and tobacco substitute products including cigars, pipes, cigarillos, and e-cigarettes generated an estimated $23.1 million in other tobacco and e-cigarette tax revenue. Estimates of the sales of flavored products in these categories vary, but the data indicate that 20 to 40% of sales could be impacted.

The Impact of Alcohol Abuse: Causes, Effects, and Solutions

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Psychopharmacology of Tobacco and Alcohol Comorbidity: a Review of Current Evidence

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Tobacco and alcohol

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Hari Johann discussed and addressed the problem of addiction from a different viewpoint

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