What effect might alcohol and another drug have when combined in your blood?
- Increase the effects of both ✓
- Have no effect on driving ability
- Reduce the effects of the drug or medicine
- Reduce the effects of the alcohol
Answer: A. Increase the effects of both
Combining alcohol with another drug can increase the effects of both.
Why this is the answer
The handbook says never to drink alcohol while taking other drugs because the combination can be dangerous and often makes the alcohol and the other drug stronger. It gives the example that one drink with a cold remedy could affect you like several drinks. The manual also says mixing alcohol and other drugs severely reduces your ability to drive. That supports the idea that the effects of both are increased, not canceled or reduced.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. Have no effect on driving ability — The passages say drugs can harm reflexes, judgment, vision, and alertness, and that alcohol plus drugs severely reduces driving ability, so driving ability is not unaffected.
- C. Reduce the effects of the drug or medicine — The handbook says the combination often enhances the effects of the alcohol and the other drug, not that it reduces the drug or medicine.
- D. Reduce the effects of the alcohol — The handbook warns that drinking while taking other drugs can make both effects stronger, so it does not reduce the alcohol's effects.
Remember it
Picture alcohol plus another drug as one plus one becoming more than two: both effects get stronger.