Cigarettes and e-cigarettes have a high rate of co-use with alcohol among young adults. Though previous research has been done on cigarette and alcohol use, less is known about e-cigarettes. A recent study investigated young adult use and perceived pleasure from cigarettes and e-cigarettes when drinking alcohol.

In this study, a sample of young adults who attended clubs and bars were surveyed on their current use of e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and alcohol, as well as their instances of co-use and reasoning for use.

The results showed that participants were more likely to use cigarettes compared to e-cigarettes when also using alcohol. Also, the participants reported experiencing increased pleasure from using both e-cigarettes and cigarettes when using alcohol compared to using alone. The increased use and pleasure of cigarettes had a stronger relationship to alcohol use compared to e-cigarettes. Overall, alcohol use increased perceived pleasure and reward effects of cigarette and e-cigarette use, and these effects are more pronounced for cigarettes.

Take Away: Using alcohol may lead to an increase in perceived pleasure from co-using cigarettes and e-cigarettes in young adults, and this effect is stronger for cigarettes compared to e-cigarettes.

Thrul, J., Gubner, N.R., Tice, C.L., Lisha, N.E., Ling, M.L. (2019). Young adults report increased pleasure from using e-cigarettes and smoking tobacco cigarettes when drinking alcohol. Addictive Behaviors. doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.01.011