Alcohol dependence impacts millions of individuals and constitutes one of the most serious public health problems worldwide. Epidemiological studies have shown a high correlation between alcohol consumption and tobacco use (Falk et al., 2006) and the prevalence of smoking in alcoholics is as high as 90% (Batel et al., 1995; DiFranza and Guerrera, 1990; Falk et al., 2006; Istvan and Matarazzo, 1984) compared to roughly 20% (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC) for the general population. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that nicotine administration increases voluntary ethanol consumption (Blomqvist et al., 1996; Olausson et al., 2001; Potthoff et al., 1983; Smith et al., 1999) and operant ethanol self-administration (Lê et al., 2003). Additionally, nicotine has been shown to induce reinstatement of ethanol–seeking in animals (Lê et al., 2010; Lê et al., 2003) and in humans (Barrett et al., 2006; Marks et al., 1997). It has been proposed that nicotine increases the reinforcing properties of ethanol as they both increase dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (Tizabi et al., 2007). Furthermore, nicotine reduces the aversive effects of ethanol, including ethanol ataxia,
