Two million people in England at risk of serious illness through alcohol and smoking finds study

Published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, the study has demonstrated the scale of people experiencing combined harms from alcohol and tobacco. The study was conducted by researchers at University College London, the University of Bristol and King’s College London in collaboration with Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). Researchers surveyed over 150,000 adults in England between March 2014 and March 2022.

This comes as the Health and Social Care Select Committee took evidence on tobacco and alcohol harms on February 6, 2024.

The study demonstrated that the proportion of smokers who also drink at levels which increase their risk of harm to their health (i.e., through the development of cancer, liver disease and cardiovascular disease) increased during the pandemic and has remained high since. People were defined as drinking at risky levels if there was a significant risk of harm to their physical or mental health and if their drinking may have negative social and financial consequences.