Is it dangerous to mix alcohol and cannabis?

Although it seems like a substance established in society that is consumed only in specific situations, alcohol constantly causes many problems in the medical environment. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 3 million deaths occur each year from the harmful use of alcohol, representing 5.3% of all deaths globally.

In other words, 5.1% of the burden of disease (ill health due to any cause) and physical injuries that occur throughout the globe are due to the use of this substance. No wonder then from encephalopathies to fatal cirrhosis, there are about 200 diseases that arise from alcohol consumption.

With all these data, we do not want to say that this drink is deadly, but of course, little is known about the effects of its abuse by the general population. Things get even more complicated if we look at the possible synergies and joint effects of alcohol with these substances, because we do not usually have anything clear about what can be consumed or done under the effects of alcohol. With purposes as informative as medical, today

we explore whether it is dangerous to mix alcohol and cannabis.

• Related article: "These are the 9 effects that alcohol has on the brain in the short and long term"

The effects of marijuana and alcohol

Before exploring the synergistic effect of both substances at the same time, it is of interest to see what they do at the brain level separately. First of all, it should be noted that cannabis is smoked due to the THC content present in marijuana, which creates a series of effects at the brain level. In the brain, THC binds to cannabinoid receptors, which are in turn located in cells nervous systems, which leads to overstimulation of the brain areas with more amounts of receivers.

Curiously, Cannabis is considered a central nervous system depressant drug, so it is both a depressant and an excitatory compound. This means that it is characterized by simultaneously producing sedation and euphoria: the sensation can be very positive emotionally, but at the same time lead to a clear loss of faculties at the level physical.

All this causes alteration of the senses, changes in the perception of time, fluctuation in mood, limitation of body movements, difficulty thinking and solving problems and memory lapses, among many others things. In the long term, abusive cannabis use is associated with the development of anxiety, psychosis and depression, in addition to other clinical entities of a physical nature (such as lung cancer, if hashish is mixed with tobacco at the time of smoke it).

On the other hand, the active compound of alcohol is ethanol, which can be obtained from the bacterial fermentation of sugars in natural or industrial means. Ethanol is also a nervous system depressant, so its high consumption translates into loss of reflexes, decreased alertness, tremors, problems keeping walking and even hallucinations. With these data, it is not difficult for us to imagine why 73% of the cases of accidents with fatalities involve alcohol.

It should be noted that alcohol has a biphasic effect on the body, that is, it initially manifests itself in form of disinhibition and joy, but then motor problems always arrive, clumsiness and even coma ethyl. Both alcohol and cannabis generate a kind of initial rush, which later translates into a series of signs derived from central nervous system depression.

• You may be interested in: "The false myth of medical marijuana"

Is it dangerous to mix both drugs?

There are many myths and repeated "claims" regarding this issue. Therefore, we are only going to focus on data cited by professional sources, such as the medical journal HHS Public Access or the Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC). Go for it.

According to the CDC, the consumption of cannabis and alcohol simultaneously reports more obvious depressant effects than if each of the compounds were consumed separately, that is, the sensation is greater than the sum of its parts. This postulation is based on the fact that alcohol increases the absorption at the systemic level of THC, the active component that depresses the nervous system of marijuana.

Studies such as “Ethanol increases plasma 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels and subjective effects after marijuana smoking in human volunteers ”they put this idea to the test under conditions experimental. For this specific study, a series of volunteers who consumed alcoholic beverages and marijuana and a placebo sample group and, after a certain time, blood tests and subjective questionnaires were performed on each of the they.

Interestingly, it was observed that the level of THC in the blood plasma was considerably higher in people who had used alcohol before marijuana, which could justify the feeling of more euphoria in the sample group, but in turn greater clinical signs that evidenced depression in the central nervous system. Just the opposite has also been shown, since it seems that smoking marijuana delays the absorption of ethanol at a systemic level, reducing its effects on the body.

We are not going to focus on the pharmacokinetic properties of each substance that result in this interaction, since it is enough for us know that alcohol consumption appears to enhance the effect of THC and THC appears to delay the visible effects of drinking alcohol.

The effects of this synergy

Determining whether this interaction has clear clinical effects is practically impossible, since each person is a world and, therefore, the body has different ranges of tolerance and doses toxic. In addition, the studies carried out tend to gather a fairly small sample group (less than 100 people), so it is quite difficult to generalize from a result. To all this is added that the long-term effects of using one substance are rarely explored, much less in combination with another.

So what to do with the exposed data? If one thing is clear throughout the various investigations, it is that the level of THC in the blood can double after drinking alcohol, at least compared to people who only use one of the two drugs separately. This is reflected when performing many tests (such as reflexes and driving), since consequently the groups that have taken alcohol first and then marijuana perform their work much worse.

However, these generalities may or may not apply to each case depending on a number of factors. Among them, we find the following:

• Tolerance to each of the substances: the more alcohol or cannabis is consumed, the more tolerance develops. Therefore, we assume that it is difficult for a constant amount of both to feel as bad as the first time.
• The type of alcohol: it is necessary to remember that a beer has about 5 degrees of alcohol, while white vodka reports about 40. This distinction is one of the most important.
• Cannabis use: the effect of cannabis ingested in the form of a cake is much more delayed than if it is inhaled in tobacco or hookah.
• The interval between the consumption of each of the substances.
• Synergy with more addictive substances, such as caffeine or nicotine, in conjunction with alcohol and cannabis.
• Previous use of certain prescription drugs.

Resume

With all these data, we wanted to reflect that, when faced with the question of whether it is dangerous to mix alcohol and cannabis, there is no concrete answer. The reaction of each person and the pharmacokinetics of the substances depend on the tolerance of each one, the mood, health at the time and the consumption of other drugs / substances, among many others things. Also, to complicate matters further, THC has been shown to slow down the depressant effects of alcohol. So what are we left with?

Outside of legal issues, if you are going to drink and then smoke, we recommend that you reduce your intake half of cannabis, or at least wait a few hours between using a substance and other. If you consume a considerable amount of alcohol and then smoke marijuana, it is likely that you feel worse and facilitate the well-known "yellow", so be careful and select the moments wisely.