It is pretty common these days for people to use more than one drug at the same time, which is referred to as poly drug use. A beer and a joint. Speed and ecstasy. Heroin and alcohol.
While this might improve the high, there are risks, particularly with some combinations — with the chances of overdose and possibly death.
Uppers
In general, drugs fall into three groups. Downers can relax or slow you down. Uppers make you more active and alert. Hallucinogens can change your perceptions. Combining two drugs with similar effects can be dangerous. For example, if you take speed and ecstasy, both are uppers that stimulate your central nervous system. This can put you at risk of heart failure due to the increased stress on your heart. Overdose symptoms include rapid heartbeat, tremors, hyperactivity and possible seizures and kidney failure.
Downers
On the other hand, mixing heroin with alcohol or benzos (all downers) is the most common cause of overdose. Most heroin overdoses occur amongst long-term rather than recreational users, and are the result of mixing downers which slow the central nervous system.
Furthermore, if you combine an upper and a downer, like speed with heroin, one drug (i.e. speed) will come on before the other (i.e. heroin). So you might use more of the drug you aren’t yet feeling, which then increases the strain on your body to cope with the mixed messages it is getting from different drugs. You can easily overload your body with too many drugs this way, as drugs remain in your system long after you feel the initial rush (prescription pills especially). So if you use again hours later you might still be at risk of dropping because you are adding to the active drug still in your system.
How strong is that drug?
It’s hard to predict exactly how much your body can handle. It depends on the strength of the drug, how you took it, how often you have been using and even when and where you take the drug. There is no control over the strength or purity of illicit drugs. There may be many different things mixed into whatever drug you have scored, whether that drug is speed, heroin or ecstasy. Have a small amount of the drug first to test your reaction to it. You can always go back for more!
Try to find out as much as you can about a drug before you take it, and be careful if you are injecting!
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