Depression, cannabis use, and binge drinking are on the rise among US former smokers

A new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that the prevalence of depression, cannabis use, and alcohol abuse increased among former smokers from 2005 to 2016 in the United States. Therefore, increases in these risk factors for relapse among former smokers could threaten progress in reducing the prevalence of cigarette use.

“It’s good news that as tobacco control efforts have been successful at reducing smoking, the proportion of former smokersamong the US population is increasing. However, as our study demonstrates, more of them are now suffering from depression and engaging in problematic substance use,” said lead investigator Renee D. Goodwin, Ph.D., Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health, The City University of New York; Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, The City University of New York, New York, NY.