Alcohol and cocaine: when their effects mix

The link between cocaine and alcohol consumed successively (not simultaneously), where the consumption of a substance is initiated to calm the unpleasant effects that the other substance has left, produces devastating effects.

In this article we will see what happens when the consumption dynamics of these two addictive substances mix.

• Related article: "The 8 signs of alcohol addiction"

Two types of highly addictive stimulants

Alcohol is a toxic substance, capable of producing addiction and although in the first place it produces a disinhibiting effect, stimulant, is located in the category of depressant psychoactive substances.

This is because after the first moment of producing a disinhibiting action, which stimulates the impulses and blocks the rational thinking, alcohol begins to produce a general decrease in different functions of the organism that then we will describe.

Cocaine is a stimulant psychoactive substance, which alters the different functions of the body. It is usually inhaled as a powder, but it can also be given by injection into the bloodstream or smoked into form of paco (base paste) or crack, which are the ways in which cocaine can be subjected to heat, since otherwise it is would burn. In all its forms, cocaine is a highly addictive substance.

We can argue that the alternate and successive mode of consumption usually occurs in the context of a link of necessity between the consuming person and both substances, supported by the role that each drug can fulfill according to the person and the use that from. This is: a person You may need to use cocaine to avoid the “down-and-out” effects of alcohol., as well as needing alcohol to get off the altered state that cocaine produces.

• Related article: "The 5 types of cocaine (and differences in addiction)"

Effects of alcohol and cocaine use

The excessive consumption of alcohol produces:

• Decreased heart rate and breathing rate
• Decreased body temperature
• Feeling of exhaustion, fatigue and drowsiness, listlessness
• Less attention and psychomotor coordination

With a consecutive use of cocaine, the user can seek to re-activate his body, his mind, under the conception that for means of this drug you will recover dormant functions as a result of your drunken state and thus you will achieve a higher state "stability".

Cocaine use produces:

• Increased heart rate and respiratory rate
• Increased body temperature
• Feeling of euphoria, of increased spirits and energy; hyperactivity, physical and mental arousal
• False sense of greater performance and success, of greater security and self-confidence

In this way, the depressing consequences of the typical “downturn” that occurs in the final stage of the drunken episode are counteracted.

At the same time this state of hyperstimulation generated by cocaine can lead to tachycardia, muscle stiffness, hallucinations, tremors, dizziness, restlessness, anxiety, panic attacks, aggressiveness, insomnia and alcohol intake is used to "get off" from that feeling of loss of control and hyperactivity excessive.

The emergence of alternate consumption

We investigated the immediate effects of each of these two substances thought in an episodic use, to understand why many people maintain this type of alternate consumption. We do not stop to discuss the various long-term effects of binge drinking that are much more extensive than the mentioned (such as, for example, physical, psychological, relationship, labor, legal problems, etc.) because they escape the objective of this article.

In this way we describe how one substance counteracts the effect of the other without idealizing either of the two or forgetting the harmful nature of both. Both alcohol and cocaine are psychoactive substances that have negative consequences throughout the body, which will occur depending on how, when and how much it is consumed.

Whether an addiction develops will depend on multiple factors. An addiction is not triggered by the simple act of using a substance, but every addiction begins with a simple use.

Bibliographic references:

• Baistrocchi, R. and Yaría, J. (2014) Addictions: Brain, subjectivity, behavior, culture. Ricardo Vergara Editions. Bs As, Argentina