And it’s not just financial costs either; alcohol-related impaired driving leads to more than 10,000 deaths yearly, or one person every 39 minutes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Heavy cannabis use also has adverse health consequences, especially with prolonged use starting in adolescence. Examples include cognitive impairment, impaired motor skills, altered brain development, lung damage from smoking, addiction and mental illness. Another risk of an alcohol and marijuana combination is that you may take too much of either substance. Although using too much marijuana isn’t usually life-threatening, inhalation burns and asthma attacks from smoking cannabis can be deadly.
Health Conditions
Because alcohol poisoning can be deadly, it is best to seek medical attention to make sure that your symptoms are not due to a dangerous blood alcohol level. Your tolerance can be affected by the potency of the alcohol and the cannabis used, so be mindful that not every mix may have the same effect. As much as possible, know what you’re drinking and which cannabis you’re using, and let this factor into how much you consume of both. If you’re old enough, you may remember hearing in the anti-drug class at school that when taken together, alcohol and cannabis double the effects of one another. While there is no evidence of a doubling effect, the research does indicate that the two substances do augment the effects of one another. Drinking alcohol and getting high at the same time – sometimes known as “crossfading” – can enhance the effects of both and potentially lead to some real side effects.
Cannabis Use.
If you’re out in a group, one person’s reaction might be very different than yours. The adverse health effects of alcohol are well-documented; excessive drinking can lead to liver damage or failure, heart strain or damage and various other issues, including a heightened risk of cancer. Smoking and vaping cannabis cause faster absorption of THC by your body compared to using edibles.3 In other words, if you eat a brownie that has weed after drinking, the weed will be absorbed slower than if you smoked or vaped it. As a result, the overall alcohol-weed interaction in your system could be reduced. Simultaneously using cannabis during alcohol-use moments altered the subjective effects of alcohol, whereas simultaneously consuming alcohol during cannabis-use moments did not alter the subjective effects of cannabis.
- Why do CDOT and law enforcement agencies believe this is an issue we need to address?
- Used alone and in moderation, these substances can be consumed safely and legally in certain states.
- Before deciding to use both together, it’s worth knowing how they interact and what risks you might be taking.
- Addiction is serious, and it’s important for individuals to know how to recognize the signs of addiction and dependence in themselves or their loved ones.
- They were also more likely to use the substances in a bar or party context, making it more likely that they would have to drive somewhere afterwards.
- The researchers reported that combining THC and alcohol consistently impaired driving performance, with worse performance during nighttime simulations.
Paying for Treatment
Alcohol can dehydrate you quite quickly, and if you haven’t had enough fluids, this can heighten the intoxicating effects of alcohol. Cannabis can also leave you with a dry mouth (“cottonmouth”) and make you feel parched. Taken together, alcohol and cannabis can compound these side effects of one another, so it is imperative that you stay hydrated if you are consuming alcohol or cannabis – together or on their own. A dry mouth and increased thirst are also common side effects of cannabis, and taken together, the two substances can worsen the likelihood of dehydration. A shortage of fluids makes a severe hangover the next morning more likely, and dehydration can require medical treatment in severe cases. The combination of weed and alcohol has become increasingly popular among young adults and recreational users alike.
There is little research on what happens if you drink alcohol first and then use cannabis, and vice versa. The studies that have been conducted have only examined drinking alcohol first and then using weed. These studies are mostly pre-2000 and include small numbers of participants, but they may provide some preliminary insight into how mixing weed and alcohol at different times affects the side effects. “Overall, we did not find support for specific concentrated products increasing the odds of a negative consequence; indeed, our most consistent finding was for using multiple alcohol products and negative consequences,” they wrote. While regular users may develop some tolerance to either cannabis or alcohol individually, the substance interaction between these two is unpredictable.
How to Reduce the Risks of Combining Weed and Alcohol
Not surprisingly, most combining alcohol and marijuana produces single-product combinations resulted in reduced rates of consumption relative to using multiple products on a given day. We retained 1,390 (91.2%) of these students in the analyses after excluding participants who provided responses inconsistent with baseline survey eligibility criteria (see above) or whose surveys had technological problems. See White et al. (2019) and Stevens et al. (2020; Supplemental Materials) for further details regarding the baseline survey.
What Are the Risks and Dangers of Mixing Weed and Alcohol?
If you use weed before drinking, pay extra attention to how much you’ve had to drink. To err on the side of caution, assume you’ve had a bit more to drink than you actually have, or aim to drink less than you usually would without using weed. In a 2015 study, 19 participants drank either a placebo or small amount of alcohol. Ten minutes later, they used a vaporizer to inhale either a low or a high dose of THC.
While people might use a combination of alcohol and marijuana to experience a more intense high, this can be dangerous. The effects of marijuana and alcohol on their own are unpredictable, and combining them makes this worse. You can absorb THC more quickly when there’s alcohol in your blood, which can increase the risk of experiencing uncomfortable side effects. While uncommon, some users might experience more severe reactions like panic attacks or temporary psychosis. For those with a family history of mental health conditions, cannabis use may increase the risk of developing or triggering these conditions.
Over a long period of time, regular marijuana use can affect the individual’s physical and mental health. Long-term or heavy use can result in an impaired driving ability due to slow reaction times and poor judgment, symptoms of chronic bronchitis, increased respiratory infections and chronic disorders such as anxiety, depression or schizophrenia. Often referred to as “greening out,” alcohol and marijuana users can have an undesirable reaction when combining the two substances.
Are cannabis and alcohol more dangerous for young people?
- Heavy cannabis use also has adverse health consequences, especially with prolonged use starting in adolescence.
- If you’re old enough, you may remember hearing in the anti-drug class at school that when taken together, alcohol and cannabis double the effects of one another.
- If alcohol or marijuana is negatively impacting your life and you seem unable to quit on your own, help is available.
- Nonetheless, negative consequences were more likely on days when multiple alcohol products were used, especially compared to the most prevalent category of using leaf + beer.
- These effects largely depend on the balance of compounds present in the particular strain and the individual’s own body chemistry and tolerance levels.
Marijuana impacts areas of the brain responsible for memory, thinking, pleasure and perceiving time and senses. Alcohol is a depressant that affects the entire central nervous system, heavily impacting motor skills, judgment, cognition and memory. Cannabis and alcohol intersect at countless get-togethers – and nights kicking back at home. If you are mixing the two, there are a number of considerations to keep in mind.
This information is neither a substitute for, nor does it replace, professional legal advice or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about laws, regulations, or your health, you should always consult with an attorney, physician or other licensed professional. Drinking alcohol is ingrained in so many social situations, but most methods of cannabis consumption don’t work well as a replacement. Cannabis beverages, though, present a real alternative to alcoholic beverages that can fit into many of the same social settings. Well, first off, keep in mind that using both substances together can produce unique effects on the human body, and it’s vital to use them in moderation and with caution. It might seem harmless to mix alcohol and weed, but doing so can be a slippery slope toward getting overly intoxicated.
In a survey of young adults aged 18 to 23, being cross-faded “was seen as moderately risky and not desirable by most.” However, over 18% of respondents stated that being cross-faded was desirable. Marijuana impacts each individual differently; for some, getting cross-faded may not be uncomfortable. Marijuana can be consumed in many ways; it can be smoked, vaporized, rubbed on the skin, or added to food. Depending on the method in which marijuana is consumed, the user can start feeling effects within minutes. Greening out is a term used to describe a situation where a person may feel sick after smoking marijuana.
Combining alcohol and cannabis can increase both substances’ potency and subjective effects, so take your time, exercise caution, and always consume responsibly. Conversely, wine can produce more potent effects than beer when consumed with cannabis due to its higher alcohol content. For context, many people consider beer and wine to be relatively equivalent drinks. If a couple is out on a dinner date, for example, one person orders a beer and the other a glass of wine, no one will bat an eye. So, a single glass of wine alongside a joint will produce stronger effects than a can of beer. This can increase the risk of adverse outcomes, such as impaired judgment, slowed reaction times, and decreased motor control.
Even if someone is not a current user of alcohol or marijuana, is it likely that they have tried it at some point; 52% of Americans report that they have tried marijuana and 86% report that they have tried alcohol at some point in their lives. Used alone and in moderation, these substances can be consumed safely and legally in certain states. However, when mixed together, alcohol and marijuana can create unpleasant side effects. The order and timing of your consumption matters, too.10 Using cannabis after drinking can increase the likelihood of nausea and dizziness, as alcohol expands blood vessels and can speed up THC absorption. This combination can also make you more prone to cannabis overconsumption, which can include pale skin, sweating, nausea, anxiety, and, in some cases, temporary blackouts.
Low to moderate doses can produce feelings of relaxation and euphoria, lower inhibitions, and make social situations more enjoyable (hence the term “liquid confidence”). However, higher doses can lead to impaired judgment, motor control, and coordination, increasing the risk of accidents and injuries. There are countless alcoholic beverages available to consumers today, including beer, wine, spirits, and hard liquor. Beer is made by fermenting grains such as barley, wheat, or rye, while wine is made by fermenting grapes.
