Alcohol, it's widely accepted and at the most time not even considered a "harmful drug", but it actually causes more harm than most illegal drugs...
1. History
The first reported cases of alcohol use are dating back to the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamian Cultures, that consumed it for their amusement. These beverages contained less ethanol than most Beers and Wines today contain, in a century long breeding process, this alcohol content has been enhanced to what it is today.
The first creation of concentrated alcohol was by the Persian doctor named Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi,around 900 A.D. , via distillation of wine.
The first extraction of pure Ethanol was done by pharmacist Johann Tobias Lowitz in 1796 by filtration of distilled Alcohol.
Today the drug is wideley accepted and considered a "People's Drug". It is currently the most used drug on the world with about 6.3l (1.7 Gallons) of pure ethanol for every person worldwide. That's 46846800000 liters every year.
2. Legal Status
Like mentioned above, in most countries in the world alcohol is legal. The legal drinking age ranges from 16 to 25 years, depending on, where you live.
Countries where alcohol is forbidden in: Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh (if you are a Muslim), Kuwait, Maldives (except for tourists), Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
3. Effects
Positive Effects:
- Lowering of anxiety
- Euphoria
- Relaxation
Negative effects:
- Vertigo
- Impaired Speech
- Vomiting
- Seizures
- Coma
- Death
4. Dosage
Because different beverages of alcohol contain different amounts of ethanol, I will be splitting this category into units as following: A unit is typically 12 oz (355 mL) of 5% beer, 5 oz (150 mL) 12.5% wine, or 1.5 oz (45 mL) of drinks with a higher (40%) alcohol content.
Light dose:
1 - 2 units
Common dose:
2-5 units
Strong dose:
6 units +
These dosages depend heavily on your sex and weight, if you are female or weight less, you should lower your consumption.
5. Pharmacology:
Ethanol stimulates the GABBA-Receptors of the brain and inhibits the NMDA-Receptors.
Alcohol is harming brain cells by activating the programmed cell death of those.
In higher doses, alcohol is acutely dangerous to your brain, by consuming 150-200ml of alcohol (equaling around one bottle of liquor), a paralysis of the brain stem can occur, ultimately leading to coma and/or death.
6. Dangers
Like mentioned above, a single bottle of hard liquor can kill a human.
The LD of ethanol is .5 BAC (Blood alcohol content).
Alcohol is acutally the most harmful drug in the world. No other drug is killing more people than alcohol and that by far.
Only in the US, 2200 people die from the direct effects of alcohol poisoning every year. That's 6 per day.
The numbers of deaths caused by alcohol abuse overall will be much higher than this.
Also alcohol is very addictive. There are more alcohol addicts(15.1 mio) in america than heroin addicts (1.5 mio).
7. My own opinion
In my opinion, alcohol is the most overrated drug in the world. It's dangerous, you have a significant "hangover" most of the time, you are impaired in your ability to make decisions, and overall I don't feel very comfortable while being on alcohol.
I really don't like the effects as you can see.
I hate alcohol, I would rather take most other drugs than alcohol, just because most of them are 1. not as addictive 2. Way more pleasant, than the effects of alcohol 3. not as toxic as alcohol.
What are your opinions about alcohol? Do you like it, do you prefer other drugs?
Feel free to leave your feedback and opinions in the comments.
Really good and well documented article.
Looking forward to read the next piece of this series.
Thanks, I appreciate your interest, I think I'll upload the next part this weekend. Stay tuned!
I like a bit of alcohol when it is time to chill
But of course not so often :)
Of course, in lower doses I also appreciate drinks, but not for the effect but for the taste :)
Thank you for sharing upvotes and resteemed to @steemitteaching
It's a pity that such a dangerous drug is legal in a lot of countries, but other substances that might even help people aren't.
Thanks for this nice article, I hope you upload more soon :D