Many recreational drugs are taken in highly social settings, such as in clubs or at music festivals. Heightening the experience you get from either of these events can be highly enjoyable for those who take part, but doing so with drugs can become dangerous when alcohol is also so heavily involved with these kinds of social gatherings. With the large amounts of people and potential high temperatures, mixing drugs and alcohol can be potentially even more fatal than usual. But why is mixing drugs and alcohol together such a damaging combination in the first place?

The effect that alcohol has on the reaction your body will have to drugs differs depending on the type of drugs you take, whether it is a stimulant or depressant. This is due to the fact that alcohol is a depressant itself. For example, if your mix a stimulant with Alcohol you are forcing your body to work against the effects of both substances as they are complete opposites. Meaning your brain and central nervous system will be put under huge amounts of stress trying to deal with both at once, as the stimulants will be putting pressure on your heart to speed its rate up, whilst the depressant will be trying to slow both the mind and heart down. This combination is much harder for the body to recover from due to the amount of stress it causes. A prime example of this danger is when cocaine and alcohol are mixed together. Except when these two substances are used in unison they can react to create a highly toxic substance in your liver as well as making you more susceptible to the effects of both substances you have ingested. The strain of both these exaggerated effects and this toxic substance can easily prove too much for your body to handle.

Even though the effects of mixing stimulants and depressants can be potentially fatal, that does not mean the same can't be said for mixing a depressant with alcohol. Depressants slow down the heart rate and breathing on their own, without the need for an added substance. Once another substance is added, such as alcohol the effects are exaggerated, slowing the body down to an incredibly slow rate. This sudden slowing of the body can cause long lasting and potentially fatal damage as it is put under large amounts of stress to keep running on such a low heart and breathing rate. If you then take into account the possibility of adulterants being in your drugs this combination can be even more lethal as you have no way of knowing what is present in your substance without testing it first. Leading to unexpected effects and reactions with both the original drug ingested and alcohol, this is a situation where anything can happen and the body's reaction to the cocktail of substances will be completely unknown until it is happening.

Overall if you are planning to use drugs and alcohol it is important to be responsible with your use. Mixing both recreational drugs and alcohol is a dangerous combination that should not be taken lightly and avoided wherever possible. In situations with both kinds of substances, it is crucial that you be sure to take one or the other and keep an eye on those around you to make sure they are safe too.