Summary
Ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol, ethyl hydroxide, drinking alcohol or simply alcohol) is a depressant substance of the alcohol class. It is the primary psychoactive component of alcoholic drinks, liquors and spirits; making it the second-most widely used recreational substance globally (after caffeine). The alcoholic beverage known as beer is the most widely consumed beverage in the world after water and tea. Ethanol principally acts by binding to GABA receptors in parts of the brain, but is also known to exhibit “promiscuous” pharmacological activity due to its activation of and/or interaction with various neurotransmitters and receptor sites.
Dose Information
| ROA | Light | Common | Strong | Heavy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | 10-20g | 20-30g | 30-40g | 40g+ |
Light
Common
Strong
Heavy
Onset, Duration & After-effects
| ROA | Onset | Comeup | Peak | Offset | After Effects | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | 0-6 min | 12-48 min | 30-90 min | 0.8-2 hrs | 6-48 hrs | 90-0 min |
Tolerance
Build-up
develops gradually over weeks to months of regular drinking
Reset
weeks to months depending on duration of use; full metabolic reset may take longer
Cross-tolerance
Effects
Positive
- Analgesia
- Muscle relaxation
- Pain relief
- Physical euphoria
- Stimulation
Negative
- Headaches
- Increased blood pressure
- Nausea
- Respiratory depression
- Temporary erectile dysfunction
- Headache
- Temperature regulation suppression
- Increased perspiration
- Physical fatigue
- Skin flushing
- Delirium tremens
- Slurred speech
- Flushed skin
- Difficulty urinating
- Frequent urination
- Sedation
- Increased bodily temperature
- Neurotoxicity
- Sleepiness
- Body odor alteration
- Sleep paralysis
Positive
- Relaxation
- Mood lift
- Happiness
- Sociability
- Euphoria
- Anxiety suppression
- Cognitive euphoria
- Empathy, love, and sociability enhancement
- Empathy, affection and sociability enhancement
Negative
- Drowsiness
- Amnesia
- Analysis suppression
- Compulsive redosing
- Delusions
- Depression
- Dizziness
- Information processing suppression
- Language suppression
- Motor control loss
- Thought deceleration
- Thought disorganization
- Delusion
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Memory suppression
- Cognitive fatigue
- Focus suppression
- Creativity depression
- Language depression
- Lowered inhibitions
- Ego inflation
- Emotion intensification
- Suggestibility suppression
Positive
- Increased libido
- Increased music appreciation
- Auditory acuity enhancement
Negative
- Acuity suppression
- Auditory suppression
- Dehydration
- Disinhibition
- Double vision
- Pattern recognition suppression
- Tactile suppression
- Appetite suppression
- Visual acuity suppression
- Auditory acuity suppression
- After images
- Appetite intensification