There are many reasons not to smoke or to drink alcohol to excess, but a new study led by Brown University addiction researchers shows how smoking can make heavy drinking more of a pain. In a study in the January 13 issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, researchers including Damaris Rohsenow and Kristina Jackson of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, found that college students were more likely to report hangover symptoms after a heavy drinking episode if they smoked more heavily on the day they drank. “At the same number of drinks, people who smoke more that day are more likely to have a hangover and have more intense hangovers,” said Rohsenow. In analyzing their data from 113 students at a Midwestern univesity, the researchers controlled for factors such as whether students reported drug use in the past year. Other research has linked smoking and drinking in the brain by showing that nicotine receptors in the brain are involved in our subjective response to drinking, Rohsenow said.

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