You’re sitting at the bar with your friends, having a great time. A couple of cocktails in, someone pulls out a pack of cigarettes and offers you one. You take it, and light up. That’s what you always do.
But why?
It’s well-known that alcohol lowers people’s inhibitions, but it won’t make people do something they never would do, says Bill Blatt, national director of tobacco programs for the American Lung Association. If you’re already drinking, you might be more likely to reach for a cigarette instead of holding off. Like alcohol itself, cigarettes can be a social lubricant.
