Quit21Day 16 after quitting smokingThe first drink
By Yevhenii, who smoked for 26 years · Updated 30 Oct 2026 · 2 min readWhat's happening in your body
When researchers had people record their first lapses in real time on handheld devices, alcohol kept turning up in the data, along with the presence of other smokers. Alcohol works on two fronts. It is one of the strongest learned cues for smoking, because the two went together for years. And it makes a decision harder to hold.
In a laboratory study, smokers who had been given alcohol held out against the first cigarette for less time than those given a placebo drink, and smoked more once they started. The intention is still there after two drinks. The grip on it is looser.
What to expect
A craving in a bar that is out of proportion to anything you have felt all week, and a very reasonable inner voice explaining why a cigarette tonight does not count as a slip. Expect it a drink or two in, not at the door, and strongest when someone nearby lights up or steps outside. If you do slip, it is one event, not the end of the attempt. Log it honestly, and the totals keep what you have earned.
And if you notice that you have been drinking more since you stopped, to fill the gap, take that seriously in its own right.
Try this
Decide before the evening, not during it, whether you are drinking tonight and how much.
What else you could do
Some people skip drinking for the first month and find that simplest. If you do drink, start with something non-alcoholic, hold the glass in the hand that used to hold the cigarette, stay inside when the others go out, and tell one person at the table what you are doing. Have a reason to leave ready and use it without apology; leaving early is allowed. For the first few weeks, where you can, choose places where nobody smokes.
Sources. Shiffman et al., 1996. Kahler CW, Spillane NS, Metrik J. Alcohol use and initial smoking lapses among heavy drinkers in smoking cessation treatment. Nicotine Tob Res, 2010. McKee SA, Krishnan-Sarin S, Shi J, Mase T, O'Malley SS. Modeling the effect of alcohol on smoking lapse behavior. Psychopharmacology, 2006.