Why Alcohol & Weed Don't Mix; The Truth About Crossfading - Two Hawk Extracts

Why Alcohol & Weed Don't Mix; The Truth About Crossfading

What do you get when you mix weed and alcohol? Aside from a raging hangover the next day, this potent combination of cannabis and hard liquor is known as crossfading. It’s a popular practice that many partygoers indulge in, but just because it’s common doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.

A recent study found that individuals who drink alcohol are more likely to consume weed while drunk, and those who indulge in both drugs are inclined to use both simultaneously. So what exactly is the draw to get “crossfaded” and how does it make you feel? Keep reading to find out more about this curious term and why you should avoid using both at the same time.

Defining The Two Most Common Drugs

Alcohol is a known depressant that greatly affects your central nervous system, essentially delaying your motor skills. As you drink, you’ll start to feel less aware of your surroundings and you may feel emboldened to do things you normally wouldn’t even consider when sober. While scenes in movies may portray dancing on tabletops and getting frisky on a public street corner as edgy, actually doing these things while drunk may prove to be a blurry memory you’d rather forget.

THC, on the other hand, is the potent compound in marijuana responsible for the heady high. Whether you eat an edible or smoke a joint, the THC starts to interact with your body’s endocannabinoid rather quickly. The can make you more aware of your surroundings, albeit on a sluggish level. As the effects progress, you may start to feel drowsy and time may seem to move slower. THC is considered a mood lifter in many regards, which is why many users consume it to cope with uneasiness and other mental issues.

So What Happens, Really, When You Mix Cannabis & Alcohol?

Drinking alcohol has the unique ability to affect your blood vessels to allow a much quicker absorption rate of THC. When you drink alcohol prior to smoking, you may feel much higher much quicker. This can be incredibly disorienting for inexperienced users wanting to get crossfaded for the first time. Feelings of uneasiness and panic can increase substantially to allow a more intense yet overwhelming high.

A term that goes hand-in-hand with getting crossfaded is called “greening out.” You’ll remember the emoji face for nausea on your smartphone is green with cheeks bulging, most likely due to suppressing the urge to vomit. Greening out is the slang term for feelings of nausea, dizziness, and other discomforts that are associated with drinking past your limit. Ironically, THC is an antiemetic, effectively preventing your natural ability to throw up. When you drink too much, your body’s natural response is to throw up to feel better. With THC consumption, however, the urge to vomit is suppressed, thus resulting in the term “greening out.” If you find yourself in this greening out phase, it’s best to lie down and let the feeling pass.

Dangers Associated with Crossfading

Driving While Crossfaded

In our last article, we mentioned why driving high is incredibly dangerous; the same goes for driving while crossfaded. Your reaction time and mobility is greatly impaired, thus increasing the likelihood of a car accident. It’s illegal to drive drunk, it’s illegal to drive, and you can bet your license it’s illegal to drive crossfaded. If you’ve got somewhere to be, call a ridesharing service to get you to your destination safely.

Impaired Judgment

When you choose to mix weed and alcohol, you judgment is significantly impaired. Memory loss, blackouts, and poor decision-making are only a few of the risks that come along with impaired judgment. You may feel invincible, empowered, fearless, and adrenalized. You may feel inclined to make rash decisions to impress those around you as well as look for ways to draw attention to yourself.

Dehydration

One of the most common side effects of cannabis use is dry mouth and increased thirst. Alcohol is well-known for its diuretic properties. When mixing cannabis and alcohol, not only will you be increasingly thirsty, but you’ll also be urinating much more frequently. This poses a severe risk of dehydration that may land you in the hospital.

Mental Health

Lastly, think about your mental health. When using a psychoactive cannabinoid along with alcohol, you can risk further damage to your mental state. Teenagers and young adults are particularly prone to psychological stress and peer pressure, which may spiral out of control if they frequently get crossfaded. Long-term crossfading can even incubate early onset of certain psychological illnesses. Your memory and attention span can suffer as well, causing your brain health to deteriorate.

Physical Health

Your body may become increasingly dependent on having both cannabis and alcohol in your system to function “normally.” As your tolerance increases, so does your dependency. Consuming too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing, which may result in extreme health issues. Edibles especially are easy to consume too much of, due to their sweet flavor and attractive textures. While the possibility of overdosing on cannabis hasn’t been studied in great depth, consuming copious amounts of alcohol can certainly lead to alcohol poisoning and fatal overdoses. Chronic crossfaders tend to consume large amounts of both cannabis and alcohol, ultimately resulting in poor and continually declining health. Edibles in particular

Conclusion

The information in this article isn’t intended to berate or intimidate you using scare tactics or inflated realities. It is simply presented to you so that you know the risks associated with crossfading. Countless cannabis and alcohol consumers have at some point gotten crossfaded; some users prefer it while others swear to remain with one or the other. Whether you accidentally or purposely get crossfaded (even if just to experience it once), you should be mindful of how much cannabis or alcohol is consumed.

When consumed in moderation and in their proper scenarios, alcohol or cannabis can be great ways to enjoy yourself. Celebrations are usually overflowing with liquor and as cannabis grows in popularity due to more states legalizing it, there may be a strong temptation to consume both. After reading this article, you should have a better understanding of the potential risks and outcomes from mixing cannabis and alcohol.

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