Drinking Declines As Smoking Declines

By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Many people I speak to in the office tell me that they don't smoke cigarettes or rarely smoke them but they find if they go out for the evening and have an alcoholic beverage or two they tend to grab a cigarette.

It seems for some pople the two go hand in hand.

Naturally, there have been many steps put in place to encourage people to stop smoking. New research suggests encouraging people to kick the habit may have another positive effect as well. Researchers say that these measures have also reduced beer and liquor consumption in the United States.

Scientists used price increases on cigarettes as a way to measure the impact. Over the past 30 years, states with the highest price increase on a pack of cigarettes experienced a more than 25% reduction in alcohol consumption.