Real-World Synthehol In Development 273
Ada_Rules writes "Researchers at the Imperial College London have announced development of an alcohol substitute that has many of the same properties as the Synthehol from the series Star Trek, in that one will get a buzz from it but will not end up with a hangover. In addition you will have the option of getting immediately sober if you so desire it. Let's hope this is not the typical vaporware. It is not that I really want a drink of Synthehol, but with its release I assume Romulan Ale won't be far behind."
Instant (Score:5, Interesting)
you will have the option of getting immediately sober if you so desire it
Can I get drunk again later that night?
Overdosing on antidote? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If you take the antidote without consuming the synthehol, will you become excessively sober?
So the antidote to Romulan ale is Klatchian coffee?
Re: (Score:2)
Who cares, no more drunk driving or DUI's?! BRILLIANT!!!!
Synthetic scotch, synthetic commanders (Score:2)
We're (apparently) close to the first, time to start making some serious progress towards the second.
Missing the point... (Score:5, Interesting)
Having the option of getting immediately sober is rather missing the point of drinking alcohol ... it is the assured descent into a carefree state with no possibility of reversal that is one of the last few pleasures left in life. ... the perfect end to a usually cold, wet and crappy day in the so-called western-civilisation.
Throwing the car keys onto the dining table, pulling a bottle of vodka from the freezer and taking a few shots
Re: (Score:2)
If you don't want to be sober until later then you shouldn't take the antidote. Alcohol doesn't give you a choice in the matter, synthehol just might.
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Seriously man - haven't you ever had a wife/girlfriend/etc. moan at you for being a bit drunk? Now, you can shrug your shoulders and smile sweetly at the Fait Accompli that life has sold her.
In the future she can just slip you a reverse micky (and by which I don't mean some sort of sexual position). Instant disaster.
Re:Missing the point... (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm waiting for the first published life reflection on the topic of wife-beater interruptus by a man whose blood-honey got wise to syntheholic Narcan. I'd dearly love to read an explanation by a man who experiences a sudden return to clarity mid swing.
The mind reels at the possibilities. If synaloxone is designed to be easily absorbed through eye membranes (there's another criteria for the designer checklist), it will soon become the feature ingredient in Pepperpoison H. This could lead to the baning of real alcohol. If real alcohol is banned, then only the alcoholics will have it.
Speaking of roids, how many drunks are going to drive home under the influence to maintain the party atmosphere, and quickly jab themselves at the first sign of traffic surveillance or air bag deployment? How is that going to be regulated?
Should this comes to pass, the law of unintended consequence is going to be working double shifts for several decade.
Re: (Score:2)
Depending on how quickly it works and a test of syntheol in the blood/breath, it is entirely plausible to have the car automatically dose the drive if needed before it can start.
Re:Missing the point... (Score:5, Interesting)
Throwing the car keys onto the dining table, pulling a bottle of vodka from the freezer and taking a few shots ... the perfect end to a usually cold, wet and crappy day in the so-called western-civilisation.
"I asked many people why they drank so much but never received an explanation that I fully understood. It was the tales of their escapades while under the influence of drink that brought me nearest to comprehending their need for it. It seemed to give them a few hours of freedom from rules which, during the rest of their lives, they reluctantly obeyed. If this was true, then in the example of my life lay a cure for drunkenness... never to conform at all." ~ Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant
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... but we're not all writers or rock stars.
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maybe not, but with the workforce surplus that this planet is experiencing, "cheap" entertainment is a must have unless the elite wants a big rebellion on their hands...
Re:Missing the point... (Score:5, Insightful)
Was that completely depressing for anyone else?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
No, he said a few shots, not the whole bottle. If you have the bottle already in the cooler, and not had just bought it, then you're not quite an alkie yet.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You're the kind of guy that pisses on rugs :)
Changed my mind ... anyone, and I mean anyone, who links to a ska punk band in their sig, is a freakin' god ...
Oh, and here is my retort:
http://artists.letssingit.com/bad-manners-lyrics-special-brew-sjbnxkj [letssingit.com]
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Alcoholics go to meetings.
Antidote (Score:5, Funny)
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That wouldn't be a bad idea actually.
"Calm the hell down, get the hell out, or take this antidote."
The drunk would have three choices. To stop being loud and obnoxious, to leave the establishment, or to take the antidote. Knowing most drunks, he'd take a swing at someone, but then it crosses into the legal territory and is no longer a civil matter. Then there would be even fewer excuses for synthehol-related crimes. Drunk driving? Stupid, you get a year in jail for not taking the antidote. Drinking an
Not really (Score:2, Interesting)
Prof Nutt and his team are concentrating their efforts on benzodiazepines, of which diazepam, the chief ingredient of Valium is one. Thousands of candidate benzos are already known to science. He said it is just a matter of identifying the closest match.
From my benzo experience, I doubt any benzo will replace alcohol. Alcohol effects a whole range of neurotransmitters, not just GABA.
And this is the "we can just turn it off" part:
“I’ve been in experiments where I’ve taken benzos,” sai
Re:Not really (Score:4, Insightful)
And this is the "we can just turn it off" part:
“I’ve been in experiments where I’ve taken benzos,” said Professor Nutt. “One minute I was sedated and nearly asleep, five minutes later I was giving a lecture.
I think we've seen this show before. It was called the 1950's and 60's.
Can't sleep? Take a pill to sleep. Trouble waking up? Take a pill to wake up. Now you're really awake and agitated and jittery? Take a pill to calm you down.
Be sure to wash those pills down with a nice distilled beverage of your choice and don't forget have a refreshing smoke.
Re:Not really (Score:4, Funny)
No thanks, I'm drinking. (Score:5, Interesting)
Let's read between the lines here...
From TFA:
In this one sentence we see: (a), an appeal to the neo-prohibitionist/nanny-stater lobby to spin this story into a positive, and (b), because you can't make this stuff at home, a pharmaceutical company is going to get a cut. Alcohol's easy to make - take some yeast and just about any form of sugar (or starch that can be converted via enzymatic action into sugar) - and you've got yourself the foundations of beer, wine, and distilled spirits. Synthetic valium, not so much.
Net effect here is that we all wind up hooked on benzos as depressants, rather than alcohol. Hey, that's fine if valium's his depressant of choice, but it's not one of mine. What's next, a move to replace the caffeine in coffee (my stimulant of choice :) with slightly-modified speed?
From the TFsummary:
As cool as it sounds, that's not a feature, that's a bug.
Allow me to nerd out for a bit: When Synthehol [memory-alpha.org] was invented, Romulan Ale [memory-alpha.org] (which presumably contained real alcohol) became illegal.
And if you go back and re-read TFA, you'll see that's pretty much where this is goin. This guy's not interested in an alternative to alcohol, he's looking for a substitute for alcohol. Even if he is working in good faith, his efforts will be used to help the neo-prohibitionists. And I can't get down with that. Because I like real ale, Romulan or not. (Homebrewing is like turning half the basement into a mad scientist's chemistry lab for a day, and it's all the more fun because you get to consume the product of your experiment when it's done!)
Around this time of year, I usually say "A drink? No thanks, I'm driving." But on this one, I'm gonna have to say "Benzos? No thanks, I'm drinking."
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
meh, just wait for the recipe to hit the net, and for someone to come up with a way to make it in a bathtub...
Re:No thanks, I'm drinking. (Score:5, Interesting)
You make a valid point about the potential killing off of the art of home-brewing ... but other than that (very valid) issue, I'm not so sure your other complaints would really matter in the long-run. At the end of the day, the drugs society considers "more acceptable to consume regularly" are really just a matter of how popularized they've become. Caffeine, for example, is pretty much treated like a major food group, since it's found in everything from soda to cappuccino. Heck, they've even got caffeinated water you can buy. But if some other drug (like a small dose of the contents of ADD/ADHD medications, perhaps?) was the drug of choice to insert into carbonated beverages and such, instead? It might have been caffeine people generally thought was a little "unsettling" or "weird" to ingest as part of recreational drinking.
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Most leaves used for tea also contain caffeine
There's only one leaf used to make tea, and that would be the tea leaf. But yes, it has caffeine.
Pretty much none of the other common herbal infusions have any caffeine in them. In fact Yerba Mate is the only one I know of that does have any caffeine.
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And if you go back and re-read TFA, you'll see that's pretty much where this is goin. This guy's not interested in an alternative to alcohol, he's looking for a substitute for alcohol. Even if he is working in good faith, his efforts will be used to help the neo-prohibitionists.
Ah ha haa. Well, ok, maybe on the western side of Atlantic, but just try to imagine removing wine from French or Italian food table, or beer from English or German pubs... Things might get medieval for the politicians who put such a law into effect.
Better Profit Through Pharmaceuticals (Score:5, Insightful)
"Prof Nutt and his team are concentrating their efforts on benzodiazepines, of which diazepam, the chief ingredient of Valium is one."
In other words, let's invent another Happy Pill that will make big profit for Big Pharmco. And we'll call it an "alcohol substitute" because alcohol is well-known as the active ingredient in alcoholism, and you're in favor of a cure for alcoholism, right?
Good thing they're not calling it a "Valium analog", what with Valium's well-known and deserved reputation for causing addiction, tolerance, and withdrawal [wikipedia.org].
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A "happy pill" is a reasonable goal, as is chemical pleasure (well, all pleasure is chemical) in general.
Information wants to be free, and information that valuable will be free in short order after the product is invented.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Benzoes? How did a friend say: I tried everything. Even Heroine. But that benzo shit? That’s even worse!
Re:Better Profit Through Pharmaceuticals (Score:4, Informative)
Your friend was talking out of his or her ass.
I take benzos on a relatively regular basis (like once or twice a month) as a useful anti-anxiety tool, and they have improved my life. Don't demonize them because some people think it's a good idea to pop them like candy.
Toxicity (Score:5, Insightful)
If it is ingested orally, then it will be metabolized in the liver. What about its toxicity? If it's the same or higher than alcohol, then the illusion of safety may in the end be detrimental to the health of the user.
Alcohol didn't exist more than 3,000 years ago? (Score:2)
The article says that alcohol has only been around for 3,000 years. This implies that leavened bread has only been around for that long. Wonder what the yeasts were producing before and why so many animals have the enzyme alcohol dehydroginase.
Re: (Score:2)
Fruit ferments naturally without human intervention.
The Puritans won't like this. (Score:5, Insightful)
Or the Catholics. If you're going to have fun, the punishment must be built-in.
The real questions (Score:2)
Can I blame my mistakes on my friends and a case of synthehol? Can I drink a girl pretty with synthehol? Will this help ugly people get laid? These are the important questions!
I'm not alone (Score:5, Insightful)
You know the first thing I'm gonna fucking do, is mix this shit in my rum and cokes while chewing some nicotine gum and smoking a fat joint.
And I know I'm not the only one.
What for? (Score:5, Insightful)
Thanks but No Thanks! (Score:2)
I'll just stick with Saurian Brandy.
Actually, we do have safe alcohol substitute (Score:5, Informative)
You can't handle the truth [boston.com]. Dr. David Nutt, the British government scientist that was recently fired, did an exhaustive study of the real impact of recreational drugs. Herion was 8.32, alcohol 5.54, Cannabis 4.00, LSD 3.68 and Ecstacy 3.27. A higher score is worse.( Many other drugs were in the study).
So we already have several safer alternatives to alcohol.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Did you RTFA?
"The new alcohol is being developed by a team at Imperial College London, led by Professor David Nutt,"
Re:Actually, we do have safe alcohol substitute (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps Professor Nutt knows a little bit more about drug safety and legislation than you. He knows there are safer drugs, yet he also knows that they're not going to be legalised anytime soon.
Surprisingly large & small gaps (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm surprised that cannabis did only marginally better than alcohol and that the gap between heroin and alcohol was so large.
I've never known anyone to fight or commit vandalism after smoking pot and while I'd agree its inadvisable, I think stoned drivers are less risky than drunk ones, especially at the low end of drunkenness/stonedness. Pot also is much easier on your body and does not produce a physical dependence or illness to the same magnitude that alcohol does (even if you factor in high cholesterol
I'll drink with Scotty... (Score:2)
from a bottle of very old Scotch whiskey!
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Re: (Score:3, Informative)
No, no you won't.
If it's Scotch you drink, it's called Whisky. If it's whiskey you drink, it's no' Scotch!
I am not a doctor (Score:2)
It is very toxic to your liver. Better to drink responsibly, consume quality products and remember that a reasonable consumption of water only protects you from the effects of hydration but has no real effect on the contaminants that cause the headache and nausea. Wait until the
The only problem is... (Score:2)
...that in the real world, alcohol making you drunk is the whole point! We certainly don’t drink it because of the bitter, burning taste. ^^
If this had any chance of being a success, then people would already prefer non-alcoholic cocktails and brews for a looong time.
And I don’t see that being the case, or ever happening.
Re: (Score:2)
Aaah, shit. I forgot to read TFS.
Now where is the delete button for my comment??
Or: What is the ^H equivalent for whole comments?
Do Not Mix With Alcohol? (Score:2)
If you read the article, they are using substances that are related to the same family or compounds that you find in Valium and other depressants. You very well might see them succeed, but I can't imagine drinking beer that has a warning label to not mix with (real)alcohol.
Synthehol is so next century... (Score:2)
To quote Worf (Score:5, Funny)
Safe Alcohol wouldn't get licensed (Score:3, Informative)
But its also a concern that if synthehol was produced, how would we know if it was safe of not, it would take usage by milliions over they adult lifetime, before we genuinely know weather the chemical was safe.
But good luck to Prof, Knut, who will probably have some very wild parties testing outs his candiate benzodiazepines.
---
Drug Addiction [feeddistiller.com] Feed @ Feed Distiller [feeddistiller.com]
Re:Headache? (Score:5, Informative)
I was always under the impression that taking paracetamol and other similar drugs along with alcohol was rather unhealthy to the liver and whatnot...
Drinking lots of water is always good though!
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Drinking lots of water is always good though!
Great. You'd better just stick to the water then.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
On the contrary, I was able to buy Romulan Ale AND Klingon Blood wine at the Star Trek Museum.
Of course this facility also hosts a Bar called "Quark's at which you are encouraged to drink a "Warp core breach", so some of these beverages may not be exactly as advertised.
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"Warp core breach" - A 50/50 shot of vodka and castor oil.
Served at an event with 1,500+ people and about 10 porta potties.
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after a night of heavy drinking, a tall glass of dihydrogen monoxide, along with a bottle of gatorade. means I haven't had a hangover in years. That means I can drink a whole bottle of rum, and then shots of tequila, and wake up happier than most people.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Headache? (Score:5, Informative)
You are correct. Paracetamol which is better known as Tylenol, metabolises into N-acetyl-p-benzoquinoneimine which is what actually damages the Liver. [wikipedia.org]
Re:Headache? (Score:5, Informative)
Paracetamol which is better known as Tylenol
Paracetamol is not better known as Tylenol, only a tiny proportion of the world population know paracetamol as Tylenol.
And the GP is not correct.
along with alcohol was rather unhealthy to the liver
Paracetamol is metabolized whether there is alcohol involved or not; Paracetamol is unhealthy for the liver regardless.
Re:Headache? (Score:4, Informative)
Yes.
Alcohol is unhealthy for the liver.
Paracetamol is unhealthy for the liver.
Alcohol + Paracetamol is rather unhealthy for the liver.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
I still don't get why you Americans insist on naming things after the most popular brand name when they already have proper names either, to the rest of the world it's like calling all card Fords or all computers IBMs.
Re:Headache? (Score:4, Informative)
You are correct. This [slashdot.org] however does make slashdot US centric.
From the slashdot FAQ: Slashdot is U.S.-centric.
Re:Headache? (Score:4, Funny)
The FAQ [slashdot.org] seems to disagree with you.
Because Paracetamol isn't just paracetamol; it's also called acetaminophen and on occasion Panadol. Technically the proper chemical name for it is N-acetyl-p-aminophenol so why not use any of those names instead? The reason being that most people in the US know what Tylenol is. The rest of the English speaking world could call it whatever it wants but the majority of Slashdot's readership consists of Americans.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
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No, I found the perfect solution. Tested an proven many, manyy times by me and friends of mine:
Eat a really nice filet steak *before* going out! Or something similar. The redder, the better! (Less destroyed molecules.)
I never have hangovers anymore. I can’t remember the last time I had one. Even if I drink like a hole.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I was always under the impression that taking paracetamol and other similar drugs along with alcohol was rather unhealthy to the liver and whatnot...
If you're at a level where you're hung over, Paracetamol will damage your liver.[1] However, the liver regenerate quickly, so if you only do this occasionally and have nothing that blocks liver regeneration generally, this should be relatively safe. My wife is an MD; her toxicology teacher recommended use of Paracetamol against hangover rather than Ibuprofen or other NSAIDs, as the increased risk of stomach damage from the alcohol/NSAID combination was more of a problem than the liver damage.
Eivind.
[1] Alc
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Mixing acetaminophen with alcohol is terrible advice.
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Mixing acetaminophen with alcohol is terrible advice.
It does however work quite the thing after drinking a cheap red for example.
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Ibuprofen is metabolized in the kidneys and gets you the same result.
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and take two paracetamol before you go to bed.
That's two Tylenol to us Yankees.
Re:Headache? (Score:5, Informative)
Uh, no. Put down the drink, it seems to have damaged your brain.
The primary cause of most hangover symptoms is very simple: Dehydration. The rest are caused by the presence of metabolic by-products of alcohol, which cause, among other things, a decline in available glucose for use by the brain, inhibition of liver function, and vitamin B12 deficiency.
For more information, wikipedia is your friend [wikipedia.org].
Re:Headache? (Score:4, Informative)
and yet the article in wikipedia clearly says...
"Hypoglycemia, dehydration, acetaldehyde intoxication, and vitamin B12 deficiency are all theorized causes of hangover symptoms".
so how can you authoritatively assert what causes a hangover when the scientists, at least according to that article, aren't even sure?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
So I suppose, then, that you have a citation or two that demonstrates that alcohol plays on role, whatsoever, in the development of a hangover? I know I've never come across such a thing, which seems to suggest such a theory is *highly* unlikely, but hey, I could certainly be wrong.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Headache? (Score:5, Funny)
And bbviously, you're not a good reader. The dude authoritatively said that dehydration is the primary cause of a hangover, based on a wiki link that he cited. However, the wiki link doesn't say that and is in fact inconclusive about what the primary cause of hangover is, let alone what causes a hangover.
besides that, the original poster's point may actually be correct too. There are other things in different types of alcohol that cause hangovers to be worse/better than others, which the dude citing wikipedia is trying to discredit. however, the wikipedia article even specifically mentions white wine causing less of a hang over than red wine because of content other than alcohol (and subsequently ethanol dehydration).
finally, that dude citing wikipedia decided to go off and be a pompous fucking ass by saying the original poster had brain damage. so i felt the need to put him in his place instead of misrepresenting what the wikipedia article said, which he originally cited, not me.
Re:And yet, whisky causes worse hangovers than vod (Score:4, Informative)
Clearly Wikipedia is the font of all knowledge (that was sarcasm (for the Americans)). You haven't had your brain replaced by a parrot brain have you?
Huh, clearly you're not illiterate, yet you apparently didn't even read the article I posted, which explicitly mentioned cogeners as exacerbating hangover symptoms.
Meanwhile, nowhere in the article you linked to do I see text which suggests that "It isn't the alcohol which gives you a headache"... probably because that's completely false.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm sorry, where did I misread? Your initial post flat out state that alcohol plays no role in hangovers. Your subsequent post was to cite an article which does nothing to support that claim, instead identifying an additional factor (cogeners) which plays a role in the product of hangovers. And your last post was entirely content-free.
So, please, enlighten me. What did I miss?
Re: (Score:2)
Ah, yes, I see, you seem to believe that the statement:
"It isn't the alcohol which gives you a headache. It's the alcohol in combination with the rest of the crap in the beverage."
Is more accurate than simply:
"It isn't the alcohol which gives you a headache."
Of course, it's not. Both are false, and for the exact same reason: They both imply that alcohol, alone, doesn't play a causative role in the production of hangovers, which is silly, given that it's the dehydration caused by alcohol which creates head
Re: (Score:2)
That’s simple to explain: Good alcohol has little fusel alcohols. Which are a product of incomplete transformation to alcohol. Or of adding sugar to it. And whiskey simply has more of them, as the strongly distilled vodka.
The sugar (and cheap alcoholic products) inside is why cocktails can be even worse.
Re:Headache? (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, other major components of your hangover include:
For most of these it doesn't matter what quality vodka you drink.
Re:Headache? (Score:5, Interesting)
What junk are you drinking? Smirnoff?
It isn't the alcohol which gives you a headache. It's the alcohol in combination with the rest of the crap in the beverage.
Either buy decent quality and/or drink a glass of water for each drink and take two paracetamol before you go to bed.
There seems to be reason to believe that the hangover is caued by acetaldehyde [wikipedia.org]. Though, I have noticed that some drinks are worse than others. For example, I think red wine has very small amounts of alcohols other than ethanol, alcohols which are a bit more toxic. It's probably also why I seem to get much more subjectively drunk from red wine than an equivalent amount of most liquors. Beer has a similar effect with me, and I assume that's because of the hops. Hops alone are sedating, and in fact hops tea (non-fermented, non-alcoholic) can be used as a natural sleep aid or a way to relax.
From that Wiki article:
Most people of East Asian descent have a mutation in their alcohol dehydrogenase gene that makes this enzyme unusually effective at converting ethanol to acetaldehyde, and about half of such people also have a form of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase that is less effective at converting acetaldehyde to acetic acid.[16] This combination causes them to suffer from alcohol flush reaction, in which acetaldehyde accumulates after drinking, leading to immediate and severe hangover symptoms. These people are therefore less likely to become alcoholics.[17][18]
The drug disulfiram (Antabuse) prevents the oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetic acid, and it has the same unpleasant effect on drinkers. Antabuse is used as a deterrent for alcoholics who wish to stay sober.
Re:Headache? (Score:5, Insightful)
As someone who's drank practically every type of ethanol under the sun, from Busch beer to Johnny Walker Blue to fortified "wine" to home-brewed mead to gluten-free beer to Cristal to Everclear, in every combination imaginable, getting blackout drunk on nothing but neat Jim Beams all night or Guinness or a different drink every time, who's tried every hangover cure, multivitamins, aspirin, Vicodin, hair of the dog, bacon and eggs, a gallon of water before bed, drinking a large glass of water between every alcoholic beverage, you name it, I can say with the utmost confidence that the "impurities" have fuck-all effect on your hangover.
Try evaporating all the alcohol out of the worst possible plastic-bottle booze, and drink the remains all the way down. You won't feel a thing. Now go raise your BAC to 0.25% with 100% pure lab-grade ethanol, drink a bottle of water between every serving, take a four Tylenol before bed, and tell me how you feel in the morning.
You get hung over because you drank poison. The perfect hangover cure is morphine. Thread over.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
You get hung over because you drank poison. The perfect hangover cure is morphine. Thread over.
Try this [daiwa-can.com], and then tell me morphine is the only cure for a hangover. Seriously, drinking that stuff before you start drinking leaves you without any hangover at all the next day.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Ethanol does not metabolize into methanol.
Further Smirnoff is perfectly fine Vodka.
Anybody who spends more then about $US12 on a 750 of Vodka is just a moron who watches too much TV and believes what he sees on commercials.
Save your money for booze where quality is harder to achieve. Vodka is just pure Ethanol and water.
Some of the most toxic components of booze are leached out of the char in the barrels. If you must get drunk do it on clear booze for lesser hangovers.
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Further Smirnoff is perfectly fine Vodka.
Smirnoff is paint remover. Try Samson instead. It's not in fact very expensive.
Vodka is just pure Ethanol and water.
Clearly you know your vodkas.
Re: (Score:2)
Try Hertikamp (sp?) it's ten bucks/750ml and recommended by Russians.
I generally find that people who 'know their vodkas' are idiots who think that advertising and spending a lot makes a product better.
I bet you can't tell Smirnoff from your favorite vodka double blind.
Re: (Score:2)
Anyone who tells you that wodka is just ethanol and water is talking nonsense and taste definitely does matter with some (if not most) brands. Hell, you'll probably have to blindfold me since I'm probably able to see the difference by the slight variation in color and I'm not even a wodka-fan (my last wodka was years ago).
Oh, I am talking "the real deal" here, not th
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
All American vodkas are equivalently tasteless due to stringent industry regulations on filtering for products bearing the label of vodka. American vodkas are, in fact, pretty much pure ethanol and water.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The definition of vodka is water + alcohol. Anything more makes it less of a vodka. The only thing sillier than a wine snob is a vodka snob.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
The second is already done. It's given to addicts to ease them off the real stuff.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, methadone is not a synth-anything, its a damn potent mu-opiod agonist in its own right, the difference is it doesn't cross the blood-brain-barrier in one big rush like dimethylmorphine(heroin) does. The reason heroin is "special" is that unlike morphine, methadone, etc., it manages to find a carrier protein that will preferentially transfer it across the BBB. Dimethylmorphine itself isn't terribly active, but once it crosses the barrier, the methyl groups are rapidly cleaved off, leaving, you gu
Re: (Score:2)
Damnit, yeah, that's my bad, diacetyl...the rest still stands though. I wish Slashdot had an edit button :/
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Head researcher (Score:5, Interesting)
It seems that the head researcher on this project is David Nutt, who was sacked by the British government over his "controversial" views on drugs like THC and ecstasy. What a bunch of blowhards; but then I'm not one to talk, since the teabaggers here hold the same rigid views.
The guy is awesome. Having been sacked in a purely political manoeuvre by Jacqui Smith (spit) it sounds like he now leads an Alexander Shulgin-like life of synthesising new chemicals and trying them out faster than the government can ban or control them. Sadly the same reasons for him being sacked will probably mean that this project doesn't gain any traction. Politics trump science and reason...
Re: (Score:2)
Fresh out, sir. How about a Synth and Tonic?