Research has revealed a potentially dangerous interaction between cocaine and alcohol when taken together
If you’re drinking alcohol and taking cocaine at the same time you really are dicing
with death.
Research has revealed a potentially dangerous interaction between cocaine and alcohol
when taken together. The two drugs are converted by the body into a third drug named
cocaethylene. Cocaethylene affects the brain for longer and is more toxic than either
drug alone. It heightens and intensifies the euphoric effect of cocaine, but also
amplifies the depressive effect of alcohol.
So, you might feel on top of the world
at the start of the night, but as the evening wears on, things get progressively
worse. It puts an added strain on the body and side effects include increased aggressive
behaviour or getting into vulnerable situations.
Cocaethylene also takes twice as
long to be processed by the body than normal alcohol, and raises the risk of increased
damage to the liver and other parts of the body.
We could demonstrate to you here some more of the research that HAS been conducted,
but the truth is that as yet, no-one really knows for sure the full implication
of taking alcohol and cocaine in combination. There really is no answer as to when
the worst may happen, it may be your first time or it may be your 100th time, is
it worth taking the chance? Medical and substance misuse professionals can only
offer the quite firm recommendation of not to mix the two as there is no other harm
minimisation advice.
The worst thing is you could be double dosing or actually forming cocaethylene if
you have used cocaine the night before and been out drinking. Even if you have considered
the consequences and decided to use and not drink, cocaine is detectable in your
body for 3 – 5 days and therefore if you have used on Friday night and then gone
out for a drink on Saturday night you could still be introducing cocaethylene to
your system. This works the same if you have had a heavy drinking session and not
allowed for all the alcohol to have left your system before using cocaine. It’s
not quite as easy as not using the 2 on the same night. There is no simple equation
that can be applied to work out the best time to mix them.