Most of us have first hand experience when it comes to the effects of alcohol. As the medical marijuana industry continues to grow, many of us are now also aware of how our bodies respond to cannabis. As the use of marijuana continues to become more mainstream (much like alcohol), we must ask the the question: Can you use alcohol and marijuana at the same time?
The short answer is yes, you can, however, this doesn’t mean that you should.
Alcohol Vs. Marijuana
Alcohol is a depressant. While it affects everyone differently, it can cause you to become angry, sad, aggressive, and make decisions that you wouldn’t normally make.
Marijuana is an antidepressant, however it too will produce certain effects on your mind and body. It can cause some people to become relaxed or energized, while others can become anxious, depressed, and paranoid.
Obviously, you don’t want to combine the two if you’re someone that gets angry or depressed from using one or the other, as combining them would make the situation worse.
Two Studies
If alcohol and cannabis relaxes you, you may be able to combine them. There were two studies conducted on the combined use of alcohol and marijuana.
The first study found that cannabis activates CB2 receptors. These are receptors that are built in to the human body to help with pain relief, immune response, etc… Smoking cannabis interacts with these receptors, altering your gut motility. The study found that smoking marijuana before drinking alcohol actually caused blood alcohol levels in the participants to be lower than if they had just drank alcohol alone.
The second study had the opposite effect. Participant’s drank alcohol first and then smoked cannabis. This caused the levels of THC in their blood plasma to skyrocket. This is due to the fact that the alcohol caused their blood vessels to dilate, which allowed the body to absorb the THC much faster than it would have had they not drank alcohol.
The Answer
According to the studies above, if you ARE going to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana around the same time, smoke first and drink after. Drinking before smoking marijuana can increase the effects, causing you to feel extremely nauseous, anxious, paranoid and more.
As with most things, moderation is key. Keep in mind that these studies are based off of smoking marijuana. There is no research to suggest how drinking alcohol while eating edibles, dabbing, or using tinctures will affect you.
So, can you use alcohol and marijuana at the same time? You can, but we highly recommend choosing marijuana and forgetting about alcohol. If you’re anxious, stressed out, or seeking relief it will help you a lot more than alcohol will. It can treat a wide variety of symptoms with a lot less risk of negative side effects.
We feel that it's also important to note that alcohol will leave you with a hangover the next day, while marijuana will not.
Contact Us
If you feel you may be a good candidate for medical marijuana, call us at (786) 224-4005 or schedule a free consultation with one of our certified physicians online, today.
