When you get drunk and high simultaneously, that condition is known as “cross-faded”. It’s usually caused when you combine drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana together.
Although this combination may take you to a whole new world, taking too much alcohol and marijuana can become substance abuse, leading to severe health conditions. But how does this adverse reaction occur?Let’s learn what cross faded means and how it affects your health.
What is Cross-Faded?
No doubt, combining alcohol and marijuana seems like a joyful experience. You get drunk and high, forgetting all the miseries of life. Even though cannabis use with alcohol makes you higher faster than a normal joint, it severely affects your mental and physical health.
Before moving on to further details, it’s important to know why people cross-fade.
Reasons for Cross-Fading
According to a health survey, 26% of U.S. male adults experience mental disorders. As a result, these people lack quality of life. They no longer find interest in activities they once liked to do.
Instead of seeking help from mental consultants and psychiatrists, they choose to go for self-help. This means they start drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis to get rid of the problems.
The most common reasons why they cross-fade are:
- Financial crisis
- Poor grades
- Unhealthy relationship
The self-help method includes the use of very different drugs that make people intoxicated. Also, marijuana users who often smoke cannabis consume alcohol as well. This makes them high and drunk, killing all the stress temporarily.
You can find these drugs easily. However, the use of these drugs illegally or excessively can become substance abuse, which negatively affects the normal person’s mental stability.
Substance Abuse
Any drug that has sedative substances taken in harmful amounts is substance abuse. It can be any medicine that you use to treat headaches and colds.
When you take that medicine in an amount more than required, your brain gets a more soothing effect. As a result, you feel temporary relief while your other organs suffer.
For example, codeine is an analgesic that’s used to relieve pain. It increases the pain-bearing threshold of a person. Although codeine reduces pain, you will feel high if you take it in more than the required amount.
A similar case happens in “cross-faded” when you consume alcohol and smoke marijuana together.
What Happens When a Person is Cross-Faded?
As you already know that marijuana includes a component THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) that makes smokers high. It directly hits the brain through the blood vessels and impairs the mental capability of a person.
But when you take a shot of alcohol before a joint, your blood vessels widen and take more THC than usual. In addition, the blood flow becomes faster, and anything you take spreads rapidly inside your body. That way, you get the maximum THC from marijuana.
THC and Cannabinoid Receptors
THC, being the active ingredient in cannabis, triggers the brain’s cannabinoid receptors in marijuana users. After that, cognitive effects show up, which impair their mental capabilities.
These receptors have a diverse set of functions like maintaining:
- Appetite
- Mood
- Immune system
Effects of Drinking Alcohol Before Marijuana Use
Marijuana is the most popular drug for people who drink alcohol with it. It does help get high faster than traditional joint sessions. Besides, some people also get alcoholic drinks and high-energy drinks to experience the same result.
When people consume these drugs together rather than individually, it affects their nervous system badly.
You already know that alcohol and marijuana have more high effects. This is because your body accepts more THC, which means you apparently can let in more intoxicants than a normal conscious human being.
As you drink more alcohol before each joint, your body stops giving response to the instant side effects. So it appears like alcohol is doing nothing to your body. But that’s not the truth.
Antiemetic Effect of Marijuana (Cannabis)
Marijuana is a popular drug due to its number of medical uses. One of the ways it’s famous is the antiemetic effect.
Antiemetic means preventing one from vomiting. That means when you take marijuana through any means, it stops you from vomiting. So whenever you feel like you are on edge, marijuana can stop that feeling. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
Although it appears to be a benefit, not while you are cross-faded.
The first few sips will force you to vomit when you drink alcohol, especially if you are one of the younger ones from college. But, of course, that’s a premature reaction. But we learned that cannabis or marijuana use stops vomiting.
That means even if it’s your first time drinking alcohol, you might not puke. The reason is you have smoked a joint. Of course, it sounds like a nice idea, but it damages your insides beyond expectation.
Vomiting is a natural signal that our brain triggers.
For example, when an amateur person drinks alcohol, they unintentionally vomit, which means something wrong has entered the stomach. But when you smoke marijuana, it nullifies the vomiting signal. That’s one effect of crossfading. But it’s more harmful than you think.
When you don’t vomit after drinking, your brain will never stop you from drinking more. That’s where the problem begins.
Since vomiting is the only signal that stops you from consuming alcohol, marijuana disables that signal. As a result, you will drink more than you naturally can.
FAQs
How Harmful Drinking Too Much Alcohol?
Drinking too much alcohol or binge drinking leads to numerous diseases. Some are curable, while some are chronic, and you can’t get rid of them.
These are a few examples of health conditions of binge drinking:
- Heart disease
- Liver disease
- Digestive problems
Also, there’s a high chance cancer will grow in your:
- Mouth
- Breast
- Esophagus
- Voice box
- Rectum
So when you are cross-faded, it’s almost impossible to stop drinking. Furthermore, too much intake of alcoholic drinks and high-energy drinks with marijuana can lead to panic attacks.
You may also feel a disconnection between your brain and your motor skills. As a result, you may not be able to walk properly. Eventually, you may start feeling high and helpless due to all these different effects of cross-fading.
Why Do People Get High When They Drink?
You feel more confident and happier once alcohol enters your blood. You forget about your surroundings and be on your own. The euphoric effect of alcohol is because of the release of two happy chemicals in our brain:
- Dopamine
- Serotonin
When you drink alcohol, the brain releases dopamine and serotonin which make you feel happy. This happiness is different from what we feel in real life. It’s more like pleasure.
This effect of alcohol makes combining marijuana more enjoyable, and you feel high in seconds.
How Long After Drinking Can You Get High?
You will get high for almost an hour as your body takes this long to metabolize alcohol. The high effect of alcohol triggers after 30 minutes. So you don’t have to take shot after shots in quick succession.
Alcohol will first enter your blood and pave its way to the whole body. Meanwhile, your brain will release happy chemicals. After 20-30 minutes, the concentration of those chemicals will reach a point that will make you high.
Can I Drive While Cross-Fading?
No. It’s not a good idea to drive a car while stoned and drunk.
According to research, there’s almost 11% slower response from the retina when you are cross-faded. Also, you get tunnel vision, which means you’re likely to lose your peripheral vision.
Final Thoughts
“Cross faded” means consumption of alcohol with smoking weed. When you are cross-faded, the dizziness and other effects will be more than usual. You will get high sooner than you expect because of drinking alcohol.
However, there are risks for anxiety and other mental disorders while taking both drugs together. So if you are struggling to get rid of them, try reducing the intake of alcohol and marijuana.
The addiction will gradually leave your body and mind, and you will return to your normal life again.