"The presence of alcohol in almost all of the polydrug-use repertoires and among all of the different populations addressed is one of the key findings of this ‘Selected issue’. Alcohol is almost always the first drug with strong psychoactive and mind-altering effects used by young people, and its widespread availability makes it the ever-present drug in substance combinations among young adults, particularly in recreational settings."

Source

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (2009). Polydrug Use: Patterns and Responses. EMCDDA: Lisboa, Portugal.