So if you’re planning to detox from marijuana, drinking alcohol is not advised. Even if you’ve only had one or two drinks your driving can be significantly impaired, a problem that is worsened by the fact that alcohol tends to make people more confident about their ability to drive. Cannabis on the other hand, can often make people more cautious or anxious about their driving, and can slow down reaction time and situational awareness.
Consumption Level Related to Co-use
If a person has been drinking and smoking weed, higher THC levels in their blood from drinking may increase the risk of a bad reaction. Because physical and mental impairment can be more pronounced when you combine cannabis and alcohol, it can be hard to know if someone’s symptoms are due to a marijuana green-out or excessive alcohol intake. Generally, higher levels of consumption or an addiction art therapy ideas increase in consumption of one substance is related to higher levels of or an increase in use of the other substance. For example, individuals using higher levels of cannabis reported higher levels of alcohol relative to those using lower amounts of cannabis.
- Both weed and alcohol can carry a potential for misuse and addiction, but this appears to be more common with alcohol.
- Over time, chronic exposure to alcohol contributes to elevated endocannabinoid levels, which in turn leads to downregulation of the cannabinoid receptor signaling [58, 64].
- Drinking alcohol before using weed can ramp up the effects of THC.
Side Effects of Marijuana
If you do get hungover, you might experience other effects, including headaches and diarrhea. There are countless cannabis products on the market and a number of consumption options, from vaping to edibles. Alcohol can have a potentially devastating impact on a person’s health.
Bramness et al. [42] conducted a retrospective cross-sectional forensic database study examining drivers apprehended by the police suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. Researchers found that cannabis impairs driving ability in a dose-response manner, though the effect was smaller than for alcohol. However, when THC and alcohol were both on board, the risk of being deemed impaired greatly increased. Despite the fact that alcohol is legal for people over the age of 21, it can be dangerous and deadly in both the short and the long term. Typically, 1 or 2 drinks will produce feelings of relaxation and reduced inhibitions; more drinks can lead to negative side effects. The effects of alcohol are influenced by the height, weight, gender, and tolerance of the person drinking as well as factors like if they have eaten or not before drinking.
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. Often referred to as “greening out,” alcohol and marijuana users can have an undesirable reaction when combining the two substances. Physical symptoms like nausea and vomiting are common, as well as sweating and dizziness.
Behavioral Pharmacology of Cannabis and Alcohol Co-use
In each session, participants consumed a different combination of placebo, low, and moderate doses of THC 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. Occasionally mixing alcohol and weed — also known as crossfading — likely won’t lead to major health problems. But there are a lot of variables to consider, including which one you use first and how you consume them.
As compared to alcohol drinkers, co-users exhibit twice the risk of driving under the influence [9]. One study conducted in France indicated that approximately 40% of sampled drivers under the influence of cannabis and involved in fatal accidents, also exceeded the legal limit for alcohol [40]. This is consistent with research demonstrating the combined effect of cannabis and alcohol compared to either alone may have the biggest influence on driving tasks [41]. High school seniors who used cannabis and alcohol together had the highest rates of unsafe driving compared to students who co-used the substances less frequently [15].
In a survey of young adults aged 18 to 23, being cross-faded “was seen as moderately risky and not desirable by most.” However, over 18% of respondents stated that being cross-faded was desirable. Marijuana impacts each individual differently; for some, getting cross-faded may not be uncomfortable. Using alcohol and marijuana together can produce uncomfortable side effects such as dizziness, sweating, and nausea. Weed seems to have fewer long-term risks than alcohol, but again, there’s a huge discrepancy in the amount of research on weed compared with alcohol. While being intoxicated with weed feels different than being intoxicated with alcohol, the two have roughly the same can you drink while on shrooms effect on your cognitive abilities, reflexes, and judgment. The immediate effects of weed can vary quite a bit from person to person.
Usually, a bad reaction to mixing weed and alcohol will pass within a few hours. But if you do decide to mix the two, start slow and keep track of how much you’re consuming of each. The researchers reported that combining THC and alcohol consistently impaired driving performance, with worse performance during nighttime simulations. A study from 2011 evaluated performance on cognitive tasks among 21 heavy weed users who had consumed alcohol. Drinking alcohol before using weed can ramp up the effects of THC.
Alcohol withdrawal can begin within hours of ending a drinking session. While cirrhosis scars from excessive drinking are irreversible, quitting alcohol and leading a healthier lifestyle can help your liver heal from alcohol-related liver disease. When someone uses alcohol and marijuana together, they might start to notice they feel the effects of one (or both) much more quickly and more pronounced than otherwise. An addiction to alcohol is something that should be taken seriously, and it is important to know the signs to determine if you or your loved one is struggling.
Alcohol significantly impaired driving-related skills including critical tracking, divided attention, and stop-signal performance. While cannabis alone had minimal effect on performance, again the combined impact of cannabis and alcohol on divided attention were greater than those by alcohol alone. Much clinical research on co-use of cannabis and alcohol has been concerned with investigation of pharmacokinetic interactions between the two drugs. Lukas and colleagues [71] assigned casual cannabis and alcohol users to a cannabis dose group (placebo, 1.26% THC, or 2.53% THC). During three experimental sessions, participants consumed beverages with three separate alcohol doses (placebo, 0.35, and 0.7 g/kg) and smoked cannabis corresponding to their assigned cannabis group 30 min later. Cannabis slowed the absorption of alcohol, and kaiser drug treatment subsequently reduced the psychoactive effects of alcohol, ultimately suggesting that cannabis may change the bioavailability of alcohol.
Get Help for Alcohol and Marijuana Addiction
They also found that negative consequences were not more likely to occur when multiple types of cannabis products were used with one type of alcohol and that using concentrates with alcohol was not more dangerous than flower. The researchers wrote in their conclusion that in states with legal cannabis, policymakers should consider requiring distributors to include warning labels about the risks of combining cannabis and alcohol on cannabis product packaging. Combining weed and alcohol can cause violent physical reactions consistent with a marijuana overdose. Using weed and alcohol together can intensify the effects of both drugs. It is safer to use either drug without the other, although the safest option is to use neither.
In contrast, cannabinoid receptor agonists and endocannabinoids serve to escalate alcohol-seeking behavior and consumption [63, 64]. Over time, chronic exposure to alcohol contributes to elevated endocannabinoid levels, which in turn leads to downregulation of the cannabinoid receptor signaling [58, 64]. Overall, these findings from preclinical research support the existence of potential cross-tolerance between cannabis and alcohol and have important translational implications for clinical research. The long-term use of both alcohol and weed may cause structural changes in the brain, with a combination of these drugs leading to more prominent effects. Researchers have found that heavy weed users who drink alcohol have worse cognitive functioning than people who only consume alcohol. While people might use a combination of alcohol and marijuana to experience a more intense high, this can be dangerous.