Alcohol and Tobacco Recreational Toxins

This chapter addresses the toxic effects of the mixtures of two recreational toxins, ethanol and tobacco. These are the most abused chemicals in the world and both are used recreationally worldwide. There are many other recreational drugs in use. These include marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines for example. These other recreational drugs are not addressed here, except where they are components of xenobiotic mixtures that produce unanticipated toxic effects. At this time there is a substantial volume of information that describes unanticipated toxic effects of ethanol and tobacco when used in conjunction with other toxicants. That information is the subject of this chapter. 

It should be noted that organic solvents are deliberately inhaled (a practice known as huffing) by some for their intoxicating effects. The toxic symptoms that follow huffing are substantially identical to those observed following accidental inhalation. Inhalation toxicity is addressed in several parts of this book and is not covered here. 

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