“I’ve got a couple of friends who have really got into taking Xanax with alcohol. They say it gets them drunk faster but they just end up really messy and I usually have to look after them. What are the dangers of taking Xanax when you’re drinking?”
Xanax is the brand name for the drug Alprazolam. Along with a range of other prescription medications that are called benzodiazepines, Xanax is classified as a depressant, meaning it slows down the central nervous system. Benzodiazepines (also called ‘benzos’) make the brain less sensitive to stimulation, resulting in a calming effect, and are used to treat conditions such as anxiety, and sleep disorders.
Although Xanax continues to be prescribed for those who have anxiety or experience panic attacks, rules have been tightened in recent years due to concerns about misuse and its role in non-fatal and fatal overdoses. If you are prescribed the drug by a doctor it’s important to take it exactly as directed. It’s a powerful depressant, about 20 times stronger than diazepam (also known as Valium), and if it’s misused it can slow or stop your breathing. It’s important to note that even when it’s taken in accordance with guidelines, Xanax can cause a range of serious side effects including impaired judgment, falls and injuries, mood swings and erratic behaviour.
As with any of the benzodiazepines, taking Xanax is particularly dangerous if you’ve used any other depressant, such as alcohol. When two or more drugs that slow down the central nervous system are taken at the same time, the effects are exaggerated, greatly increasing the risk of an overdose.
Even though it is more difficult to access Xanax via prescription due to stricter regulations, the drug appears to be increasingly used by some in the way you have described, i.e., for ‘fun’, usually in conjunction with alcohol. What makes this even more dangerous is that there’s increasing evidence that what’s being misused is actually counterfeit Xanax.
Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are often poorly manufactured, and the ingredients and amounts that they contain can vary substantially, even within the same batch. Testing of counterfeit Xanax has shown that most of them do not contain alprazolam, instead they’re made up of a range of substances which can be more harmful. Unfortunately, these counterfeit products have been associated with serious harm and death. In 2023, there were two deaths in Queensland related to the use of ‘fake’ Xanax tablets. They contained a potent opioid called protonitazene that works like heroin or fentanyl, which when taken can cause life threatening respiratory depression.
Taking Xanax with alcohol is extremely dangerous. When people mix the two drugs intentionally in an effort to ‘get drunk faster’ they’re likely to get the effect they’re after in the short term, however, it won’t take much for sedation to take over and their breathing to become compromised. This is extremely risky behaviour and should be avoided.
First published: November 2024
