Drug Overdose Risk and Tolerance

Drug tolerance can develop in chronic users, lessening euphoric effects to the point that dependent individuals intake higher doses to achieve the same result. Unfortunately, the physical toll that drugs take on the body only increases with heightened drug dosage, leading to a sharp increase in dangerous side effects. Ultimately, drug tolerance can severely increase the risk of drug overdose—leading to dangerous physical damage and possibly even death.

Increased Drug Overdose Risk and Tolerance

One of the dangers of drug tolerance is that chemically dependent individuals begin to overestimate how much of the drug they need to intake in order to achieve a high. Especially with drugs that take time to affect the system, users may also grow impatient waiting for the drug to kick in, and assume they need higher dosages. Additionally, if the drug varies in potency from prior use (or is from a different “batch”), what can be perceived as a small increase in intake can actually become a lethal dose.

Overdose Deaths and Drug Tolerance

Some drugs such as alcohol, narcotics and barbiturates act to suppress the body’s central nervous system. The mechanisms that control automatic function such as breathing and heart rate begin to become affected. In general, even the most drug dependent individuals will want to avoid intoxication to the point of overdose risk. However, as the euphoric effects of the same dosage lessen, users increase their intake without considering the heavy effect the drug begins to have on automatic function.

As a result, the likelihood of overdose severely increases. Seizures can occur as central nervous system function becomes affected. Automatic responses such as the “gag” or swallowing reflex also become impaired, sometimes leading drug users to pass out and then choke on their own vomit. Heart rate begins to dangerously slow down and breathing becomes depressed, possibly leading to coma or death. If individuals with drug tolerance also intake alcohol, high but nonlethal drug doses can become quickly fatal.