Polysubstance use

• People will often take a mixture of substances. This mix will change how they feel the effects depending on which substances they have taken. This is not just illegal substances, eg. cocaine and heroin (also known as ‘speedballing’), but more commonly people will mix legal drugs, eg. alcohol and tranquilisers. This may or may not be intentional but it is helpful to consider the impact of some of the most commonly used substances when taken together. For example, you may find an older person taking sleeping pills who has a ‘tot’ of alcohol in the evening, or the young person who goes out drinking alcohol at a weekend as well as sharing a few joints of cannabis with friends.

• While understanding that everyone reacts differently, it is important to have some idea of the possible effects of these combinations. For example, a drug that depresses a person’s central nervous system (CNS), eg. alcohol, combined with another depressant drug, eg. tranquilisers, will put greater strain on the respiratory system and significantly increase the effects and risks associated with depressant drug use. Similarly, a stimulant drug, eg. cocaine, combined with a drug that depresses the CNS, eg. heroin, will speed up the heart and then slow it down again putting extra pressure on the heart.

• The Government’s website (www.talktofrank.com), aimed at young people, has a useful ‘fruit machine’ game (‘Frank Gear’) that mixes a range of substances and gives you an idea of what the combined effects might be.

Introduction | Alcohol drugs and their effects | Assessing substance use
How to assess | Overdose awareness | Websites