Mixing drugs

Mixing drugs might increase your buzz, but it comes with added risks too.

Mixing drugs isn't a good idea

Mixing drugs when you’re coming up

Different drugs have different effects. Stimulants like speed increase brain activity, while depressant drugs such as alcohol slow your system down. Hallucinogens such as acid act upon the mind, while analgesics, like heroin, have a pain killing effect. But even if you think you know what kind of kick a certain drug will bring, much depends on:

• What’s actually in it
• The amount taken
• Your mood and physical condition
• Your surroundings at the time

Which is a hell of a lot to consider, and almost impossible to suss out unless you’re some kind of laboratory guinea pig. The bottom line is the effects of any drug can be unpredictable. but even more so when it comes to mixing different substances.

If you are planning on taking different drugs in one night, limit the risks by allowing the effects of one drug to wear off before starting on another. It won’t guarantee that things will go off as you’d hoped, of course, but it should reduce the risks.

Mixing drugs when you’re coming down

It may be tempting to turn to one drug as a way of softening the after effects of another, but ultimately this just stokes up your body with more toxins and complicates the comedown. Smoking a joint may take the edge off a strong speed trip, for example, but it could just inflate your sense of paranoia too.

Some people choose to come down naturally. Allow the effects to wear off without masking it with another, and you can only come back with less of a bump. Just chill out in a comfortable place, and when you feel up to it, aim to eat a healthy balanced meal. At the same time, keep sipping water, isotonic drink or orange juice (which is rich in vitamin C – something that’s often lacking in your system after caning it).

Drinking alcohol on drugs

Mixing alcohol with other drugs is seriously dangerous. This is because drink serves to slow down the nervous system (controlling heart and breathing rate). Combined with other depressant drugs, it could see the body shut down altogether. Barbiturates should never be mixed with alcohol as this is often a deadly combination.