Some individuals who suffer from drug addiction or alcoholism or engage in recreational drug use decide to mix different substances with alcohol intentionally. This is usually done to intensify the high or pleasurable feeling. However, it is a very dangerous practice and can lead to death. There are many factors that go into determining how an individual will react to the combination of a specific drug with alcohol, so there’s no way to predict what will happen.

Alcohol is a depressant, which means that it reduces brain activity and slows down a person’s heart rate and breathing when drinking. When it is used in combination with a drug that is also a depressant, the body can shut down altogether. Using two of these substances together increases the health effects of both of them. Mixing alcohol with a drug like heroin makes overdose more likely because breathing stops. The interaction with marijuana suppresses an individual’s instinct to vomit, which increases the chances of alcohol poisoning.

A stimulant drug can create a harmful interaction, as well. Mixing cocaine with alcohol makes a person’s heart rate increase as much as five times more than it would with the drug alone. This can cause heart attack and heart failure. The interaction with meth makes the user feel fewer effects from the drug, but their body still reacts in the same way. Therefore, they can’t tell how high they are and don’t know when to stop.

Another factor is that it’s impossible to know exactly what the ingredients are in most types of illegal drugs. Users never know exactly what they are ingesting, even if they always get the drug from the same dealer. Mixing alcohol with a club drug is generally an extremely dangerous combination. For example, taking ecstasy and alcohol together often leads to death by hypertension or causes severe dehydration.