A 2021 study published in the journal Nature Medicine showed that MDMA could have therapeutic benefits for some people with PTSD. Cannabis has also shown promise in helping to treat PTSD and other mental health disorders. Sensitivity analyses assessing association between cannabis law implementation and changes in opioid prescribing and opioid deaths in the United States. As far as risks go, it’s important to point out that both cannabis and MDMA can increase your heart rate, especially if you’ve taken an ecstasy pill, which will likely include speed.
Why Do People Mix Ecstasy (MDMA/Molly) & Weed?
The most common adverse effects include anxiety, dysphoria, fear, confusion, increased blood pressure and heart rate, headache, nausea, fatigue, and dizziness which are typically dose-dependent and regarded as well-tolerated. Specific adverse effects of illusions (LSD), dissociation and sedation (ketamine), muscle tightening and jaw clenching (MDMA), and emesis (ayahuasca) are more compound specific, and similarly regarded as well-tolerated or essential to the therapeutic effect (67, 68). To date, there have been no clinical trials reported on the feasibility of using classical psychedelics for CUD. These individuals reported lasting reductions for over a year after using a psychedelic.
Contamination With Other Drugs
Inside the chemical name is “amphetamine,” as MDMA belongs to this class of drugs known as central nervous system stimulants. Taking MDMA and cannabis together can lead to severe psychological and physical effects. While an honest drug guide for raves festivals and clubs clubnight there is evidence suggesting that both cannabis and MDMA have therapeutic effects, little is known about how they interact with each other outside of clinical settings and are taken with less of an eye on dosage.
Data availability statement
Its principal psychoactive ingredient is Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, Gaoni and Mechoulam, 1964). In humans and in animals, cannabis or cannabinoid receptor agonists generally alter mood and impair short-term memory (for a review, see Ameri, 1999). Ecstasy can have an unpleasant comedown period, and marijuana can minimize the symptoms. Marijuana can also increase the psychedelic effects of ecstasy, creating a more intense high. Some users may try to extend the high of molly—a relatively short-lasting drug compared to others—by mixing it with weed. As MDMA and weed are social drugs that are regularly used in mixed company, it’s not uncommon for both to be available at parties or other group events.
Both THC and MDMA are also known to strongly affect cholinergic release in areas critically involved in acute mnemonic function (Acquas et al, 2001a, 2001b; Fischer et al, 2000; Nava et al, 2001), and their combination may have a complex effect on its production. The administration of MDMA alone did not affect choice accuracy at low or medium doses, and impairment at high dose was modest. Braida et al (2002) found that acute administration of up to 3 mg/kg MDMA initially had no effect on the number of errors in a standard eight-arm radial maze task, but when a 2-h delay was imposed, MDMA dose-dependently impaired performance. Similarly, administration of MDMA (10 mg/kg) prior to acquisition of a passive avoidance task impaired memory assessed 24 h later (Barrionuevo et al, 2000).
What Happens When You Mix Xanax and Alcohol?
Therefore, we essentially assessed what substance(s) the participants believe they used. Data were analyzed separately for each task component by two-way (treatment by delay) repeated-measures ANOVA using SPSS version 11. Where significant main effects were observed, pairwise comparisons were conducted using Bonferroni-adjusted t-tests. Mauchley’s test of sphericity was violated in the low-dose condition for within-subjects effect of delay, but application of the Huynh–Feldt adjustment did not alter the results. The results can therefore be viewed as being robust against violations of the sphericity assumption.
MDMA exerts its unique combination of behavioral and mood effects by widespread activation of the brain’s serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine systems (Climko et al, 1986). It is therefore conceivable that the combination of MDMA and THC may produce additive, subtractive, or synergistic effects. While a small number of studies have addressed their long-term interaction in humans (Croft et al, 2001; Daumann et al, 2003; Gouzoulis-Mayfrank et al, 2000), acute specific interactions between the two drugs are yet to be documented.
- Experiment 3 (high doses) examined the effects of 1 mg/kg THC and 5 mg/kg MDMA alone and together.
- As far as risks, experienced users say they’d be wary to offer the combo to those who are new to either substance, or to their friends for whom cannabis can increase their anxiety.
- Mixing weed and ecstasy may sound like a good time, but the reality is quite different.
- Lately, researchers have been exploring whether cannabis and opioids can be safely used together.
Thus, after chronic use, the absence of THC may unmask this enhanced stress response, manifesting as withdrawal symptoms, contribute to the development of negative reinforcement, and be mitigated by substance use relapse. This article is intended for harm reduction purposes and should not be used in place of medical advice. Always consult your local drug laws before engaging with any unregulated substance. GBL and GHB are big libido-drivers, and crystal meth or mephedrone helps to physically sustain that libido over a long period of time.
It has shown promise in tobacco use disorder, having demonstrated higher rates of tobacco use cessation (15.3%) compared to placebo (5.6%), but was tested without success in opioid and cocaine use disorders. In a study comprising of two 13-day human laboratory inpatient admissions, lorcaserin 10 mg BID was found to decrease cannabis self-administration in 15 non-treatment seeking individuals with daily use, compared to placebo. Lorcaserin also decreased craving during abstinence conditions, and co-morbid tobacco smokers decreased their tobacco use, even though they were not intending to (34). To reduce risk, always test your MDMA, dose modestly, avoid frequent use, and know what safety and medical resources are available to you. Although no one is free of risk, seriously consider avoiding the experience altogether if you have pre-existing health conditions or mental illness.
Most (85%) users of alcohol reported having a sexual encounter after drinking, followed by marijuana (74.7%), and ecstasy (56.8%). We surveyed 679 nightclub and dance festival attendees via an electronic tablet survey in New York City during the summer of 2015. A variation of time-space sampling was used (i.e. parties are randomly selected [specific venues on specific suicidal behavior nights] and potential participants were surveyed outside of these parties (MacKellar et al., 2007). Participants were eligible if they identified as 1) ages 18–25, and 2) were attending the randomly selected electronic dance music party. Further details regarding sampling and recruitment can be found elsewhere (Palamar, Acosta, Sherman, Ompad, & Cleland, 2016).
Weed laced with molly, or molly and weed taken simultaneously, can cause a strange blend of the side effects of marijuana and ecstasy when taken independently. Users may feel relaxed and euphoric, as with general marijuana use, but may also enjoy the heightened elation of MDMA and increased energy. In addition, the psychedelic effects of recreational ecstasy in high doses become more intensified when marijuana use factors into the mix. People under the influence of MDMA and cannabis may not realize how much of the drugs they are ingesting, and this lack of awareness could lead to an overdose of ecstasy, which can sometimes be fatal. Intervention Recreational and medical cannabis law implementation (proxied by recreational and medical cannabis dispensary openings) between 2006 and 2020 across US states. As far as risks, experienced users say they’d be wary to offer the combo to those who are new to either substance, or to their friends for whom cannabis can increase their anxiety.
“If you look at many of the reports, they are individuals who have had a personal [or family] history of psychiatric and neurological disorders,” Giordano says. Since the original publication of this article, there have been some interesting developments in the world of mixing shrooms and weed. The most notable is a recent patent that the biotech startup, CaaMTech Inc. won in mid-January 2021 for combining a variety of cannabinoids with different chemicals found in magic mushrooms. The resulting compound—which could look like any combination of THC, CBD, psilocybin, psilocin, and many other cannabinoids and mushroom derivatives—could be used to treat “psychological disorders,” according to the patent application.
A few subjects described mood swings, “excessive pensiveness and introversion” and memory/concentration issues after the drug session, which generally resolved after a few weeks (69). The risk of HPPD, as illustrated in the case report, is considered rare and the incidence incompletely known. While the use of psychedelics at therapeutic doses in supportive environments decreases the risk for acute or prolonged psychosis, the added vulnerability for psychosis in those with chronic cannabis use should add a layer of caution. Recall bias is a factor in this study and may have been introduced in two distinct ways.
For individuals with ADHD, for example, combining cannabis and prescription medication like Adderall, can produce different effects. The individual experiences of each drug can vary, and their effects can depend on factors such as dose, purity, individual physiology, and setting. MDA and MDMA are both classified as stimulant drugs and can increase the release of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine in the brain.
It is essential to note that individual responses to this combination can vary significantly, and adverse effects, including anxiety, paranoia, or cognitive impairment, may occur. The combination may also have negative consequences on memory and cognitive function. Depending on the dose, the effects of ecstasy can last between drug addiction articles three to six hours. Many MDMA users tend to take several doses back-to-back, however, making the symptoms and duration of symptoms unpredictable. From a safety perspective, there are concerns about mixing drugs increasing chances of addiction across the board, and of course unpredictable, and potentially dangerous impairment.
Another reason they mix the two is to increase the psychedelic effects of psilocybin, especially the visual effects when their eyes are open or closed. I ask Dr. Nikola Djordjevic, Medical Advisor at Loud Cloud Health about this, and he confirms that many peoples’ senses are enhanced when they combine cannabis with psilocybin. Hallucinogens are a group of substances that ignite psychedelic effects, such as altering perception, mood, or thought processes. While many have their own specific mechanism of action, one mechanism that they all share is the activation of serotonin (5-HT2A) receptors. Depressants produce opposite effects to stimulants, helping to relax muscles, ease anxiety, and usher in feelings of calmness.
The competition can diminish the effects of the acid, but it may work differently for other antidepressants. Even doses as high as 400 micrograms failed to produce much and the resistance lasted as long as two weeks after the antidepressant was discontinued. When coming down from a trip, some people might want something to take the edge off. So it’s not uncommon to mix LSD with depressant drugs such as alcohol or benzodiazepines like Xanax, that slow down the nervous system. This combo is often sought at raves, with users attempting to get both drugs to “peak” at the same time, usually by taking the MDMA several hours after the LSD kicks in, as they both have different zeniths.
However, it does create a whole new different kind of high in itself, which is possibly why so many people end up reaching for their phones once they’ve got a few beers inside them. There are many types of alcohol (e.g. spirits, beer, wine), there are many strains of marijuana, and ecstasy now comes in different forms (e.g. pills, powder, crystals). In addition, the ecstasy used might not have contained actual MDMA and could have contained adulterants such as ‘bath salts’ which may have different effects (Palamar, Salomone, Vincenti, & Cleland, 2016).
Risperidone yielded significant improvement in her symptoms of psychosis but had no effect on those of HPPD (36). There has been extensive research on substance use as a factor that leads to sexual risk behaviour (e.g. sex without a condom), but more studies are needed to examine how specific drugs relate to sexual risk behaviour. Because use feels different in numerous ways, including a longer high or a longer period before a high set in, users may find themselves inadvertently taking larger doses than intended. This can lead to unpleasant ramifications, like nausea, vomiting, increased body temperature, vertigo, increased heart rate and blood pressure, loss of consciousness, and hallucinations. In addition, as there’s generally no easy way to tell what substances, or what quantities of substances, are in laced drugs, users may wind up taking something they don’t intend to.