While alcohol and cocaine used separately can cause serious health problems, combining the two can cause far greater risks. When alcohol and cocaine are used together they create a third chemical, cocaethylene, to form in the liver. This phenomenon is the only known example of a formation of a third chemical forming in the body following the ingestion of two others. The existence of cocaethelyne is basically unknown to those outside the pharmacological community.
The side effects of cocaethelyne first became known to professionals in the late 1970s. The damaging effects of the chemical are now appearing among people in their 30s and 40s. Addiction clinics report an increase of patients displaying these same side effects.
At this time there is still little known regarding the severity of the chemical, what is known is that it is toxic to the liver and increases the risk of heart attacks in those under the age of 40. While health risks relating to drug and alcohol use are typically associated to heavy users, even those who consider themselves social users are at risk of developing cocaethylene as a result of combining alcohol and cocaine. Also, “social users” rarely use cocaine without first having some drinks. Adding to the problem of combining the two drugs is the belief among users that the drugs enhance the effects of each other. Many social users report using cocaine to be able to drink further into the night and that cocaine seems to have a sobering effect when combined with alcohol.
