What happens if you drink alcohol while taking prescription or over-the-counter medicine?
- The medicine reduces the effect of the alcohol.
- The alcohol will help the medicine cure a cold.
- The combination could multiply the effects of the alcohol or medicine. ✓
- There is no effect because they are different substances.
Answer: C. The combination could multiply the effects of the alcohol or medicine.
Mixing alcohol with prescription or over-the-counter medicine can multiply the effects of both the alcohol and the medicine.
Why this is the answer
The handbook says alcohol and drugs should not be taken together, because mixing them often multiplies their effects. It gives a concrete picture: one drink combined with allergy or cold medication can hit you like several drinks. That is why the answer points to the combination making the effects stronger, not weaker, and why checking a medication label for warnings matters before you drive.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. The medicine reduces the effect of the alcohol. — The handbook says mixing multiplies the effects of both substances; it never says the medicine cancels out or reduces the alcohol.
- B. The alcohol will help the medicine cure a cold. — Nothing in the handbook says alcohol helps a medicine cure a cold; it only warns that the two together intensify each other's effects.
- D. There is no effect because they are different substances. — The handbook treats alcohol and drugs as a dangerous mix, warning that combining them multiplies their effects rather than leaving you unaffected.
Remember it
Think of one drink plus cold pills as several drinks, not as one drink watered down.