Avril

Hi, yesterday my school had a dance, and i have a friend who came to the dance slightly drunk and on adderall, i was wondering 2 things, 1, how do i talk to him about it, and 2, what are the effects/risks of using adderall and mixing it with alcohol?

thank you very much

pedagogue

Adderall is an amphetamine (stimulant) which acts on the neurotransmitter dopamine. Alcohol is a depressant and effects GABA, Serotonin, Dopamine, and your endogenous opiates (aka endorphins). What does this mean.....pretty much that you are pushing and pulling at the same time. The adderall blunts some of the symptoms of using a depressant. You feel like you can drink more because you aren't hit as hard as you normally would be if you didn't take a stimulant. Please remember that even though you might not feel the effects right away, your body can only process a set amount of alcohol per hour. Just because you don't feel it, doesn't lessen the amount of alcohol you took in. There is a greater likelihood of alcohol poisoning because the person can't really gauge how they are feeling.

Also, if the person is using the adderall recreationally, then that brings in a whole new set of consequences. (long term chemical changes in the brain, withdrawal symptoms, irregular heart beat, etc.)

-pedagogue