NEWS: Breathable Alcohol

This is a new way to consume alcohol. Now you can inhale your drinks with no carbs, lower calories and wake up without a hangover thanks to a new machine named AWOL that vaporizes it. Even though the manufacturers say it is safe, it may also be dangerous, as alcohol gets to your brain a lot faster.



I personal think this is a very bad idea. Inhaling alcohol like this will cause people to consume more. They say the alcohol goes to your brain faster when inhaling, then it does through an IV. This will be like a rush to your system. Taking a big enough dose of this may knock you on your buns before you finish it.

America already has a big enough problem with alcohol, inhaling it may benefit some people but will mostly cause medical emergencies and accidents for the younger generation.



Related News Links:
www.gothamist.com
www.awolmachine.com

[edit on 2-1-2005 by Banshee]

hahaha, this is just funny.

I dunno, I just see that taking away the whole social factor away from drinking and seems to only serve the purpose of getting drunk...

hmmm.

Now how in the world does this eliminate hangovers??
Clever marketing ploy, but alcohol is a diuretic in any form, so I think you're gonna get dehydrated and, thus, hung over, even if you inhale your liquor.

On one hand, it sounds like it's a "fun" gimmick for bars and parties, but sheesh -- people imbibe enough when they have to actually taste the stuff. :shk:

Originally posted by parrhesia
hahaha, this is just funny.

I dunno, I just see that taking away the whole social factor away from drinking and seems to only serve the purpose of getting drunk...

hmmm.

I agree, this is all it is. Drink more, less hangover, less calorie. It just makes it too easy. I wonder how this will effect the blood alcohol tests? If you inhale it will it show up or will test be inaccurate since you are inhaling instead of drinking?

That's an interesting question, Ycon.
If this were to become widespread I'd think some methods of testing would have to re examined.

I worked in bars for about the last 7 years. Without really knowing the idea behind this I can say the reason for hangovers is because alcohol burns off the oxygen in your brain; and your brain is basically dehidrated. I think almost the moment this becomes really popular it will be shunned as mimicking the affects of poisoning by fumes. Who knows though. Has anybody tried that pill you are supposed to take right before you start drinking to keep from having a hangover the next day? I've heard it works.

If you cant take your liquer straight and deal with whatever you have the next morning, you have no business drinking at all. Wonder what the health risks will turn out to be, as I would think inhaling vaporized 151 would be near fatal given its strength and how much it burns.

I completely agree without having seen what I've seen from the biggest to the smallest of people who couldn't handle their intake. On a comical, albeit truthful note; I live in the southeastern united states where moonshine running still happens. Speaking of 151, I know people have used that as an alternative to gas for their cars when they had some around, but no money for gasoline (prohibition brought out some interesting character from people whos ancestors used to be cheerful scots and natives). Ok, so they're cheerful when they're left alone.....

[edit on 3-1-2005 by existence]

Originally posted by existence
I live in the southeastern united states where moonshine running still happens.

We must live in the same neck of the woods.
Can you imagine putting 'shine in one of those machines?!?
My god, that would literally kill a person!

huh..sounds like this for people that like to get wasted, but dont like the tast of hard liqours and beer. I though thats waht Schnops was for

I love this idea. It's perfect for me. Unlike alot of people, I drink to get wasted, not for the taste. In fact, I can barely stand the taste of alcohol, especially hard liquor. I find it hard to truly drunk on beer, you have to drink so much of it....it's unpleasant.

I've been waiting for them to make a quick, painless (and legal) way to get drunk. Bout damn time!

I had Hepatitis A when I was younger, and my liver isn't exactly in the best shape when it comes to alcohol. It usually takes a fair bit of alcohol to get me drunk in the first place, and due to some binge drinking of straight whiskey, I can't stand the taste or smell of alcohol one bit, I mean, I can taste it very heavily in mixed drinks where not many others can, which is probably psychological more than anything else, but anyway...

It's only a tad annoying, and I would still like to get a bit lubricated at parties/social gatherings.

Would this affect the liver any differently than drinking alcohol?

Yes, your liver would not have to function as much as a filter for impurities if alcohol was taken in as more of a gas or mist. We are creatures that move about mostly on land. And I don't see us evolving to creatures of air or sea; that's what we came from. The point is the liver functions like it does with alcohol because it has evolved that way. Alot more of the body would be able to do the same thing if we moved through the air freely because we would be immersing ourselves in a gaseous environment; the sea not even as much as land. The liver would not function as much as it does to filter impurities not because of a smaller ammount of the impurity, but because of a different modus apparendi (pardon any misspell).

Great, next stop, GHB inhalers

Why not just go back to the good ole days of gas huffing? Good Grief. You can drink this one, you can sniff that, or swallow these,
but you can't smoke that one!!
Sigh.

I wonder what the dangers of Breathable Alcohol (many dangers = legal) are compared to breathable marijuana (few dangers besides being arrested = illegal)...

Also, Hangover facts:

"Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, is the active ingredient in liquor. It falls somewhere between a food and a drug in classification. The FDA defines a drug as anything that "is deemed to be for therapeutic or diagnostic use or to affect the structure or function of the body." But ethanol is a food in that, like proteins or fats, it has caloric value. This means that as it's processed by your cells, ATP, the body's energy storage chemical, is produced. Before this happens, however, ethanol must be transformed into pyruvate, a normal product in sugar metabolism.

The intermediate stage between ethanol and pyruvate, acetaldehyde, is quite toxic and is the smoking gun of the hangover phenomena. Like ethanol, acetaldehyde is processed by the liver at a fixed rate, regardless of how much of it is in the bloodstream. The conversion of ethanol to acetaldehyde also uses excessive amounts of NAD plus, an important element of the body's normal energy production process, which explains some of the depressant effects of alcohol. The body's attempt to restore normal levels of this element triggers a diuretic effect and dehydration is the result. Not only do you get intermediate toxins, low energy levels, and dehydration, but one side effect of dehydration is the loss of needed water-soluble vitamins and minerals, generally wreaking havoc on a body that's already been put through the wringer. " (quoted from www.u.arizona.edu...)

I'm sure I saw a news story about this a couple of years ago here in the UK. You pay your money to the barman who puts the mask on you, and you take a hit from the machine.

It was offered up as a gimmicky way to get kids to part with their money faster. A bit like the trend for shots etc. It was never seen as an alternative to drinking a beer or whatever. Being hooked up for a few seconds isn't the same as sitting with your friends socialising over a drink.

Anyway, it didn't take off, and apart from the iitial story I've seen nothing of this until now it's turned up in the states.

As for less hangovers, that's probably down to their being less chemicals than in beer, but mainly I suspect it's just advertising guff.

Originally posted by Ycon
I personal think this is a very bad idea. Inhaling alcohol like this will cause people to consume more.

It takes a long time to consume the equivalent of one shotglass, much longer than taking a shot. It doesn't result in more alcohol consumed per night.

[qoute] They say the alcohol goes to your brain faster when inhaling, then it does through an IV.

That doesn't sound right, injecting it directly into your bloodstream can't be significantly different than absorbing it thru your lungs.

Taking a big enough dose of this may knock you on your buns before you finish it.

You can only pour one shot of a drink into it at a time, from what I understand. I suppose a person could pour grain alcohol and have more than one usually gets, but again it takes time to consume the vapours.

America already has a big enough problem with alcohol, inhaling it may benefit some people but will mostly cause medical emergencies and accidents for the younger generation.
Irresponsible drinkers will be irresponsible with or without this thing. I think its a bizzare new thing, but I don't see how its going to make things worse. Effectively you are bypassing the stomach and using the lungs to absorb the alcohol, so it gets absorbed quicker but this is somewhat balanced by having it consumed over a shorter period of time. I'd think that you'd get 'drunker' quicker than drinking a similar number of shots, tho I suspect that you'd be 'drunk' or inebriated for a shorter period of time. The body processes alcohol at a certain rate. Absorbing it thru the stomach takes time, so your body absorbs it over a longer period of time. This might potentially mean that you are still intaking alcohol at the end of the night, whereas with this vapour method all the alcohol you'll be having that night is being processed from the begining, more or less.

But such accounting isn't going to make a difference. People will inhale some shots, drink others, and, like I said above, the irresponsible ones will be irresponsible with or without this. If a person is drinking at all they shouldn't be driving, thats what the problem is, not the method of consumption.

[edit on 3-1-2005 by Nygdan]

Originally posted by Nygdan

Originally posted by Ycon
I personal think this is a very bad idea. Inhaling alcohol like this will cause people to consume more.

It takes a long time to consume the equivalent of one shotglass, much longer than taking a shot. It doesn't result in more alcohol consumed per night.

[qoute] They say the alcohol goes to your brain faster when inhaling, then it does through an IV.

That doesn't sound right, injecting it directly into your bloodstream can't be significantly different than absorbing it thru your lungs.

Taking a big enough dose of this may knock you on your buns before you finish it.

You can only pour one shot of a drink into it at a time, from what I understand. I suppose a person could pour grain alcohol and have more than one usually gets, but again it takes time to consume the vapours.

America already has a big enough problem with alcohol, inhaling it may benefit some people but will mostly cause medical emergencies and accidents for the younger generation.
Irresponsible drinkers will be irresponsible with or without this thing. I think its a bizzare new thing, but I don't see how its going to make things worse. Effectively you are bypassing the stomach and using the lungs to absorb the alcohol, so it gets absorbed quicker but this is somewhat balanced by having it consumed over a shorter period of time. I'd think that you'd get 'drunker' quicker than drinking a similar number of shots, tho I suspect that you'd be 'drunk' or inebriated for a shorter period of time. The body processes alcohol at a certain rate. Absorbing it thru the stomach takes time, so your body absorbs it over a longer period of time. This might potentially mean that you are still intaking alcohol at the end of the night, whereas with this vapour method all the alcohol you'll be having that night is being processed from the begining, more or less.

But such accounting isn't going to make a difference. People will inhale some shots, drink others, and, like I said above, the irresponsible ones will be irresponsible with or without this. If a person is drinking at all they shouldn't be driving, thats what the problem is, not the method of consumption.

[edit on 3-1-2005 by Nygdan]

In the original article it says it goes to your brain faster then with an IV. Thats what makes it dangerous.

This machine is not only going into bars, but is also being sold to individuals. In a bar, the bar tender can cut you off when you've had enough. Just imagine the college dorm parties, with contests and irresponsible young adults not knowing their limits. I can just see them with a hose strapped to their face and passed out.

I can see the headlines now "Inhail while you sleep, wake up intoxicated"

The people should be responsible drinkers and most are but many are not. This new way of consuming alcohol will encourage people to have more, inhail between shots or drinks.

This could be good for some people, inhailing a shot will hit you almost instantly and you will feel the affects before you grab that next shot.

Everyone talks about this being dangerous for younger people, but how many young people are going to be able to afford this machine in the first place. Since they won't be old enough to go to a bar and use this machine, they would have to purchase one, and I'm sure that isn't very likely.