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Chapter 37 — 1
Chapter 37
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DRUGS
AND
DIVING
It is common for divers to enter the water under the influence of drugs. These may vary from
paracetamol taken for a minor headache, to alcohol or marijuana from a beach party the night
before, or a therapeutic drug for an illness such as high blood pressure.
Since some drugs are innocuous while others can have potentially lethal effects with diving, it
is important to know something about them.
Problems can arise from effects of the drugs themselves, but commonly the condition for which
the medication is taken poses a greater threat to the diver. For instance, most antibiotics have
no harmful influences on divers, but a diver being treated for bronchitis with an antibiotic, has a
significant risk of developing pulmonary barotrauma until the condition resolves.
We will consider commonly used drugs under four categories:
• Drugs taken for treatment of illnesses
• Drugs taken for prevention of illness (prophylaxis)
• Recreational or social drugs
• Drugs used for diving related illnesses.
TREATMENT DRUGS
In many cases the drug which is used to treat an illness can be a greater hazard to the diver than
the illness itself. Some drugs may have frequent and predictable effects on diving activities and
these are summarised here, but much more information can be sought by an Internet search
using reliable sources.
The idiosyncratic effects of other therapeutic drugs on an individual are unpredictable. Thus, if
drugs are to be used when diving, they should be introduced to the diver long before the diving