Weed and Alcohol Dangers of Mixing Marijuana and Alcohol

Using weed before drinking alcohol may minimize the effects of alcohol. This means you might be tipsier than you feel, increasing your risk for becoming overly intoxicated. Drinking alcohol before using weed can ramp up the effects of THC. But if you’re sensitive to weed or don’t have much experience using it, it’s best to avoid mixing the two. It’s also important to remember that people can have very different reactions to the same mix of alcohol and weed. If you’re out in a group, one person’s reaction might be very different than yours.

This may allow the lungs to absorb more THC when someone smokes marijuana. Alcohol and marijuana are both psychoactive substances, meaning they can change the way a person thinks and feels. Mixing the two can intensify these mind-altering effects, increase the risks of driving drunk and make a person sick.

What happens when you mix weed and alcohol?

That is why alcohol detox and alcohol withdrawal treatment is administered by medical professionals. While awaiting medical attention, it is important to keep the person safe from harm. This includes preventing injury and providing reassurance and emotional support.

1. When mixing alcohol and edibles, even more caution may be required.
2. Knowing when to seek professional help for AUD/SUD can be difficult.
3. Some studies indicate that using weed may slow the absorption of alcohol, but the results are debatable.
4. The combination can also lead people to engage in unusual or risky behaviors.
5. This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure FHE Health is trusted as a leader in mental health and addiction care.
6. This refers to a range of unpleasant physical symptoms that can result from a strong high.

Simply put, neither substance should be consumed if you plan on driving, so make sure to have a designated driver take the keys if you’re going to mix the two and get a cross fade going. If you’ve mixed weed break the cycle of addiction with these strategies to keep dopamine in check and alcohol and are having a bad reaction, it’s probably because alcohol seems to make the high from using weed stronger. This can happen any time you’ve consumed to much weed — with or without alcohol.

Mixing weed and alcohol: the good, the bad and the ugly

When mixing alcohol and edibles, even more caution may be required. Edibles produce a high that can be more potent and unpredictable at times – even for seasoned cannabis users. In addition, because of the delayed onset, it can be hard to gauge the effects of the edible in real time while also consuming alcohol. Edibles can also produce a very strong body high that can be lethargic and overly relaxing – much like the effect of consuming a large amount of alcohol. While it’s not entirely clear why drinking alcohol makes weed more potent, it may be because of the way alcohol affects blood vessels.

Taken responsibly, both alcohol and cannabis can be a great time. 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. The researchers reported that combining THC and alcohol consistently impaired driving performance, with worse performance during nighttime simulations. Those who consumed just alcohol had worse cognitive functioning than those who only consumed THC. Those who combined the two had reduced cognitive performance than those who only consumed alcohol. For example, a 1992 study had 15 participants smoke a placebo, a high dose of THC, or a low dose of THC on three occasions.

A number of recent studies also focus on how combining weed and alcohol affects your driving. The researchers found significantly higher peak THC levels among participants who had alcohol versus those who had a placebo. Even low levels of weed and alcohol can severely impair driving. While a marijuana overdose won’t kill you, it can cause uncomfortable symptoms, such as severe nausea and vomiting, extreme paranoia, panic, trouble concentrating, and decreased coordination and muscle control. Typically, alcohol withdrawal symptoms happen for heavier drinkers. Alcohol withdrawal can begin within hours of ending a drinking session.

Contact us to speak with an intake coordinator who can answer your questions and help you understand what options may be available to you. If you’re using an alcohol and marijuana combination, you can be more likely to get alcohol poisoning, which can be fatal. Individuals who are drinking alcohol and consuming edibles should carefully monitor what they consume. However, it is safer to avoid edibles entirely when drinking alcohol. Alcohol is a diuretic, which means that it causes people to produce more urine.

An alcohol overdose can lead to serious health consequences or even death. Drinking alcohol before smoking weed can amplify the effects of marijuana. Alcohol boosts your body’s absorption of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive ingredient in weed. Remember, consuming weed after drinking alcohol might make you feel less intoxicated, which can lead you to drink more than you usually would. Getting drunk and stoned at the same time is sometimes referred to as getting crossfaded.

Drunk driving, self-harm: the other risks of mixing marijuana and alcohol

A 2017 review of existing studies notes that people who use alcohol and weed together tend to consume more of both. This can increase your risk for developing a dependence on alcohol, weed, or both. A recent study has also shown that those who consumed alcohol had much higher levels of THC in their bloodstream compared to a placebo group. So if you’re planning to detox from marijuana, drinking alcohol is not advised. In fact, marijuana is the most frequently used substance among drinkers.

The FHE Health team is committed to providing accurate information that adheres to the highest standards of writing. This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure FHE Health is trusted as a leader in mental health and addiction care. Both weed and alcohol, together and on their own, are also potentially addictive and can lead alcohol and sleep to dependence and misuse. If you take medication, talk to your doctor before using weed, alcohol, or both. They may weaken the effectiveness of your medication or increase your risk for certain side effects. When mixing weed and alcohol, there are a lot of other variables to consider in addition to which one you use first.

Because it’s a depressant, it immediately affects the individual’s reaction time, coordination, vision and ability to accurately assess risks and read situations. Drinking alcohol before smoking weed can make you feel high more intensely and quickly. In serious cases, some people misuse both weed and alcohol because they struggle with a substance use disorder or an addiction. 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.

People may use a combination of these substances to get more of an effect for both or combat the side effects of one or the other, but it can be risky and unsafe. The authors of a 2017 review suggest that people who use alcohol and alcohol awareness toolkit prevention technology transfer center pttc network weed together typically consume more of both drugs. This higher intake may increase the risk of dependence on alcohol, weed, or both. It’s also important to note that different methods of taking THC affect the body differently.

Over several hours, this can lead them to become dehydrated, as they lose more fluid than they take in. Using alcohol and cannabis together could intensify this effect. There is limited research available on the long-term effects of consuming alcohol alongside weed, which people also call marijuana or cannabis. Alcohol is rapidly absorbed into the blood through the stomach and the small intestine.