Chief Executive Officer/ Founding Member
Richard has an extensive background in Admissions, Facility Operations, and Clinical outreach. He has developed robust networks of relationship with therapists, hospitals, physicians, treatment centers, and other community resources to provide them with access to behavioral healthcare. Richard has also operated as the CEO of several different treatment facilities over the course of his career.
Richard is passionate about ensuring the client finds the best fit for their treatment needs. His focus is on maintaining relationships with quality providers across the country, so that he can help whoever he comes across get the help they truly need. Equally, Richard focuses on ensuring the treatment provided at Legacy Recovery Center is of the highest quality, and that the team is doing all they can to serve those who come to Legacy Recovery Center for care.
Richard finds his work extremely rewarding, but his biggest joy is his family and helping his wife raise their child.
Polysubstance use refers to using two or more substances at the same time or within a short time period, either intentionally or unintentionally. Someone with an opioid use disorder, for example, may also regularly drink alcohol, smoke cannabis, or take benzodiazepines or stimulants to either intensify the high or balance unwanted effects like anxiety, insomnia, or withdrawal.
In other cases, people may not realize they are combining substances at all, especially when illicit drugs are contaminated with substances such as fentanyl. Mixing substances (such as opioids, alcohol, or benzodiazepines) can suppress respiration and greatly increase the risk of overdose and death. For example, CDC data shows that most stimulant-involved overdose deaths (73%) involve opioids [1].
That’s part of why public health agencies now describe polysubstance use as increasingly common and closely tied to the overdose crisis. Read on to learn more about this growing concern and how it’s being addressed in treatment centers.
What Causes Polysubstance Abuse?
Polysubstance use usually doesn’t start as a deliberate “plan” to mix drugs. It emerges from a combination of neurobiological, psychological, and environmental factors that reinforce one another over time.
Many drugs converge on the same brain circuits that regulate reward, stress, and self-control. Dopamine-driven reward learning can make the brain link relief or pleasure not just to one drug, but to a combo of cues and effects (for example: “stimulant to function” followed by “depressant to sleep”). Over time, those pairings become conditioned patterns that feel automatic, especially under stress. Tolerance also builds, so the “come down” becomes harder to tolerate, and people begin adding substances to manage the crash, withdrawal symptoms, or anxiety [2].
How Common Is Polysubstance Use?
Polysubstance use is far more common than many people realize and has become a common pattern in modern substance use disorders. Public health data shows that exposure to more than one substance is now frequently the norm rather than the exception, especially among people who use opioids or stimulants [3].
National overdose data continues to show that deaths involving more than one drug have risen alongside changes in the illicit drug supply. This shift matters because treatment often fails when it targets only one substance while missing the broader pattern of combined use that shapes craving, withdrawal, and relapse risk.
The Dangers of Polysubstance Use
Different drugs interact inside the brain, heart, and respiratory system, sometimes masking warning signs until a medical crisis occurs. This is one reason clinicians pay close attention to polysubstance patterns during assessment, as the dangers are often less predictable and more severe than single-substance use.
Overdose Risk
Data shows nearly 80% of synthetic opioid-involved overdose deaths also involved at least one other substance, such as alcohol, benzodiazepines, cocaine, or psychostimulants. Mixing stimulants with opioids, or opioids with alcohol or sedatives, is becoming more common and poses higher health risks because these substances affect multiple brain and respiratory pathways in various ways.
Mental Health Crisis
Polysubstance use is strongly linked with psychiatric instability because different drugs affect mood, sleep, and perception. Mixing stimulants and depressants can intensify anxiety, paranoia, depression, or impulsivity, especially during withdrawal cycles. Clinical studies consistently show higher rates of co-occurring mental health symptoms among people who use multiple substances compared to those who use only one [4].
Cardiovascular and Neurological Stress
Mixing substances places intense pressure on the body’s stress systems. Stimulants raise heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature, while depressants slow central nervous system activity. Switching between or combining these effects forces the brain and cardiovascular system to constantly adjust, increasing the risk of arrhythmias, stroke, seizure activity, and sudden cardiac events.
Decline in Social Health
Public health reports consistently link polysubstance patterns with higher rates of hospitalization, housing instability, and legal consequences compared to single-substance use disorders. Clinically, people who combine drugs are also more likely to experience relapse if treatment focuses on only one substance instead of the full pattern of use [5].
How Does Treatment for Polysubstance Use Work?
Polysubstance use treatment is designed to address the full pattern of substance use, not just one drug in isolation. Treatment often begins by understanding how different drugs interact with a person’s brain, mental health, and daily functioning.
Providers typically start with a comprehensive assessment that looks at withdrawal risk, mental health symptoms, medical history, and the role each substance plays. From there, care is individualized to ensure stabilization occurs safely while the nervous system begins to recover from the effects of multiple substances.
Some people begin with detox or medical monitoring, while others start in outpatient or residential settings, depending on risk level. The goal is not just stopping substance use, but helping the brain gradually regain balance so motivation, sleep, mood, and relationships start to normalize again.
Integrated Drug & Alcohol Treatment in Arizona at Legacy Recovery Center
Legacy Recovery Center is a highly rated, premier addiction and mental health treatment center in Arizona. Legacy is owned and operated by two psychiatrists with over 40 years of combined experience, as well as a robust therapeutic team.
We’re unique among residential treatment centers thanks to our ability to help people suffering from mental health and/or substance abuse issues. Our expert psychiatric team is equipped to treat multiple issues concurrently, focusing on your specific needs.
Sources
[1] CDC. 2024. Polysubstance Overdose.
[2] Debellis, R. The contributions of cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging to understanding mechanisms of behavior change in addiction. Psychol Addict Behav. 2013 Jun;27(2):336-50.
[3] Kasper, Z. Polysubstance Use: A Broader Understanding of Substance Use During the Opioid Crisis. Am J Public Health. 2020 Feb;110(2):244-250. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2019.305412.
[4] Cucciare, M. Polysubstance Use by Stimulant Users: Health Outcomes Over Three Years. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2018 Sep;79(5):799-807.
[5] Huhn, A. Patterns of polysubstance use and clinical comorbidity among persons seeking substance use treatment: An observational study. J Subst Use Addict Treat. 2023 Mar;146:208932.
