What are the similarities and differences between tobacco and alcohol?

Ramsey Keaton

Their are many different opinions to which drug is "better" or "worse" than the other. Both tobacco and alcohol are government sanctioned addictive drugs. However, the have many differences in what they do to the body when used. Tobacco is a stimulant while alcohol is a depressant. As far as statistics go tobacco kills more people than alcohol but alcohol is related to more violent crimes. Alcohol can also be fetal when mixed with other drugs which is not nearly as common with tobacco. Both alcohol and tobacco can have an effect on not just the people who use them but those around them. Tobacco can directly affect the people around the uses by second hand smoke and alcohol can affect the people around those who are drunk by their impaired motor skills which causes vehicular accidents.

The two substances are often used together. A studied has shown that people who smoke are more likely to drink, and people who drink are more likely to smoke. Dependence on alcohol and tobacco are also correlated. People are three times more likely than those in the general population to be smokers if they are dependent on alcohol, and people are four times more likely than the general population to be dependent on alcohol if they are dependent on tobacco.

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/AA71/AA71.htm