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.
Drinking alcohol while taking prescription or over-the-counter medicine can multiply the effects of both the alcohol and the medicine.
Why this is the answer
The New York manual says never to drink alcohol while taking other drugs, including prescription and over-the-counter medications. It warns that the combination can be dangerous and often enhances the effects of both the alcohol and the drug. The manual gives the example that one drink while using a cold remedy could affect you as much as several drinks. It also says a combination of alcohol and other drugs severely reduces your ability to drive.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. The medicine reduces the effect of the alcohol. — The manual says the combination often enhances the effects of the alcohol and the drug, not that the medicine reduces the alcohol's effect.
- B. The alcohol will help the medicine cure a cold. — The passages never say alcohol helps cure a cold; they warn that a cold remedy plus alcohol can affect you more strongly.
- D. There is no effect because they are different substances. — The manual directly warns that alcohol and other drugs together can be dangerous and enhance their effects, so they do not simply have no effect.
Remember it
One drink plus a cold remedy can hit you like several drinks, so medicine and alcohol add up rather than cancel out.