Tobacco. You can drink with moderation. A little alcohol won't hurt you. But with tobacco it is a different situation: You can't smoke with moderation! Once you light a cigarette you are loading your system with several kinds of dangerous chemicals that will hurt you in several ways. Also, you are hurting people around you while you are smoking. You may drink a case of beer while sitting next to me and it won't hurt me in any way. Tobacco is worse than alcohol for those and other reasons.

Tobacco. You can have one drink and enjoy it. You do not damage your body with one drink. One cigarette , however, causes damage to your body PLUS the smoke causes others to suffer from passive smoking. However, the situation becomes more dangerous if large amounts of alcohol are consumed.

Id have to say tobacco...

With respect to addiction, 90% of people who 'try' tobacco become addicted to it, but only 10% of people who try alcohol become addicted to it. It's a stat I read years ago; I'll try to find the source to confirm.

Alcohol... How many smoking and driving accidents are reported? How often is domestic violence caused by smoking too many cigarettes? How many children abused because of it? How many cases of date rape can be attributed to getting to messed up on cigarettes? I understand that cigarettes do have many harmful and fatal health consequences but so does alcohol. Being a child of an violent alcoholic I can say that it effected me more than second hand smoke ever could have. Here are a few facts from the U.S Dept. of Justice About three million violent crimes (including rapes and sexual assaults; robberies; and aggravated and simple assaults) occur each year in which the victims perceive the offender to have been drinking at the time of the offense; about two-thirds of these crimes are characterized as simple assaults. 1.4 million incidents of alcohol-related violence are committed against strangers Among violent crimes the offender is far more likely to have been drinking than under the influence of other drugs, with the exception of robberies where other drugs are as almost as likely to have been used as alcohol. Nearly half a million incidents of violence between intimates involve offenders who have been drinking; in addition, 118,000 incidents of family violence (excluding spouses) involve alcohol, as do 744,000 incidents among acquaintances. Can you say the same for smokers?

I'd say if you have an addictive tendancy or predisposition then both are the same. I was addicted to tobacco from the age of 17 and struggled with it daily till I was 31. I still think about it almost every day. I knew it could kill me and I carried on, it is a terrible drug. I am very close to an alcoholic and she knows that she stands to lose life and limb if not her friends and family and still she struggles. I was wise enough to realise early on that I have an addictive nature and always avoided trying other addictive drugs because I knew my chances of being stuck on them were higher than most people's. From a wider perspective both stil are the same. Alcoholics tend to damage other people by acts of selfishness whereas smokers damage other people by selfishly contaminating their airspace with lethal second hand smoke. I was that person for too long. Just in case anyone says "ooh those exsmokers, they're the worst..." I feel for anyone addicted to anything, it's a weakening, humbling experience to struggle against such a destructive tendancy. I also think that people who make a positive decision to lead healthy lives shouldn't have the selfishness of others (and that includes me) thrust upon them.

It would depend on the person who has either the addiction to tobacco or to alcohol. Most people who smoke or chew have an oral fixation or a nervous habit that smoking/chewing either satisfies or calms down(example: fidgity hands). After so long their body as well as their mind become addicted. Alcohol is an addiction that can either be genetically based or a habit that is based upon one's emotional dependence on the feeling or sometimes lack of emotion that being drunk provides. It is used as an escape or a crutch or a way to deal/not deal with the reality of their life. I myself am a smoker. I know it is doing enormous amounts of damage to my lungs. I spend a good deal of money getting the smell out of my home, automobile, and off of my clothes. I have spent countless hours shivering in the cold just so I could pay outrageous prices to slowly kill myself and be a slave to an industry that has made a fortune out of lying to the American Public for decades but still makes billions in profits a year. Honestly, there is no other industry or business who has got away with so much and still survives quite profitably. Knowing all of this, I haven't even tried to quit and it's not because I have a death wish or like the cold or being broke - it is a comfort to me, like eating is for others; it calms me down when I am frustrated and gives me an excuse to be alone if I need to be since the majority of the Americam Public are non-smokers; I am an extremely nervous person in that I am a "fixer" so my mind is always racing trying to make sure I have any & all possible problems covered - b/c of this nervous energy, I have more nervous habits & ticks than a flea ridden dog. Smoking gives my whole upper body from my hands to my mouth to my chest rising up and down something to do. Now as for alcohol, I am not a drinker but I am the daughter and the grand daughter and the ex-fiance of heavy drinkers. I am genetically predisposed but no amount of money offered of fruity, yummy additives can get me to drink an entire glass of anything above 2%. I don't know why - I instantly get a headache and want to sleep. I think the answer actually is that somewhere in my subconscious I have decided that I never wanted to end up like my grandpa and my dad who both had to go "dry out" or like my ex-fiance who lost his job, so many friends, the respect of his family, and last but not least, living with me because I kicked him out after one too many nights of blacking out and doing foolish things. I am so proud of my dad(a non-smoker) because he is sober and it is so hard for him. Most days I can see on his face how much he wants to drink. I get my propensity for worrying from him. He still goes through major bouts of depression even though it's been two years. He is having trouble learning new coping mechanisms this late in life(50's). Thank goodness he never developed cirrhosis of the liver, got a DUI/DWI, or injured himself while intoxicated(a miracle in itself since he drives stock cars, races karts, & flies hang gliders & glider planes). On the other hand, my continued smoking is shortening my life. Lung cancer does run on one side of my family giving me two risk factors for developing it, even after (if & when) I quit. I am a single mom so I should be more responsible since I am the only parent in my daughter's life. There is nothing I value more than her & yet I can't even begin to try to want to quit. At this point, I'm not sure if I can. On the other hand, if I was a drunk, eventually someone would step in and take her away. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about it. For me, smoking is the worse of the two evils because I might take myself away from her prematurally because I can't quit. For my Dad and my hrandfather, both who used to be social smokers, the worse of two evils for them is alcohol. They both have the ability to light up and then not smoke again for months, even years. However, every day they are reminded of how much they want to drink. Alcohol vs. Tobacco isn't really a comparison. The comparison should be between the addictions of the individuals

Alcohol has statistically caused more deaths...

I would say alcohol also, because so many still have not learned to lose their car keys when they drink.

Both are as bad as eachother. People can get addicted to both of them.

I always knew the internet has no real answers

Alcohol is related to 75,000 deaths per year. Tobbacco is related to 440,000 deaths per year. Do the math. Thats not even touching how you can drink in moderation without any consequences, yet even when used properly a ciggarette is both harmful for you and those around you. Plus I wonder how many accidents are caused a year by drivers fumbling around in the car looking for a ciggarette.

di-hydrogen monoxide maybe?

To the addict it would be whichever one they are addicted to and currently using.