Pubdate: Mon, 22 Jan 2007
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Copyright: 2007 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact:  http://www.smh.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Author: Ruth Pollard, Health Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

STUDENTS AT RISK OF OVERDOSES BY MIXING DRINK AND CANNABIS

ALCOHOL and cannabis are the most popular combination of drugs for 
school students, but users are unaware that mixing the two 
substantially increases the risk of overdose, experts warn.

Using data drawn from a study of 12,805 high school students aged 12 
to 17, researchers found a little more than 3000 had used cannabis, 
most of them in the older age range.

Of those, 68 per cent had combined it with alcohol, putting 
themselves in danger of overdosing, also known as greening out, said 
Paul Dillon, of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.

"We talk about drugs in isolation but what this clearly shows is that 
people do not use one drug in isolation, a very large percentage, 
including young drug users, are mixing and the effects are totally 
unpredictable," he said.

"Alcohol allows THC - the active ingredient in cannabis - to be 
absorbed faster. As a result, you may be having exactly the same 
amount of cannabis as you usually do, but it is essentially an overdose."

More and more young people were reporting to be greening out, so 
named because people become nauseous, vomit and experience head 
spins, he said, adding: "When someone has greened out it can often 
put them off cannabis, if not forever, for a long time - it is 
extremely unpleasant."

Among adult Australians, almost 90 per cent of cannabis users 
reported using alcohol and cannabis on the same occasion. The report 
Australian Secondary School Students' Use of Over-the-Counter and 
Illicit Substances in 2005 and the 2004 National Drug Strategy 
Household Survey found high school students mixed other drugs with 
alcohol as well. Of those who used amphetamine, 61 per cent had 
combined it with alcohol and 37 per cent with ecstasy, while of those 
who took ecstasy, 66 per cent also drank alcohol and 39 per cent 
combined it with cannabis.

"People appear to mix drugs under the assumption that this practice 
will increase the perceived positive benefits of each drug taken," Mr 
Dillon said. "However, the only guarantee with polydrug use is that 
you increase the risk of something going wrong."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman