Drugs Drink and drugs don't mix
If you follow this rule, you won't go wrong. However, if you do choose to mix alcohol with drugs, it's worth knowing the difference between a bad idea and a potentially lethal one. The following guideline should help you make the right decision.
- Cocaine: drinking alcohol makes the effects of cocaine more powerful and more dangerous. This combination is common in cocaine related deaths
- Heroin: this drug does not mix well with anything. Taking heroin with anything that makes you sleepy, like alcohol, increases your chances of going to sleep and not waking up. Plus, when you're sleepy, there's more chance you'll choke on your own vomit
- Tranquilisers (like Valium, Rohypnol, benzos and barbs): like heroin, these drugs mix badly with depressants like alcohol and there is the same danger of falling asleep and then into unconsciousness
- Ecstasy: if you've been drinking alcohol, it takes longer for drugs like ecstasy to take effect. Heavy drinking will dehydrate you and increase your risk of overheating. Alcohol places a greater strain on your kidneys and can give you a much worse come down. If you take ecstasy, stay away from alcohol, and try to sip up to a pint of water or fruit juice every hour
- GHB: this can be fatal when mixed with alcohol
- Ketamine: this is an anaesthetic and therefore a depressant. Mixing it with another depressant like alcohol can be very dangerous. There's a risk you'll feel sleepy and that you'll vomit in your sleep and choke because you're unable to wake up