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{{Infobox drug class
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| Use = Antidote, sedative
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] of the hydroxyl (-OH) functional group in an alcohol molecule (R<sub>3</sub>COH). The three "R's" stand for carbon substituents or hydrogen atoms.<ref>{{cite web|title=alcohols|url=http://goldbook.iupac.org/A00204.html|work=IUPAC Gold Book|accessdate=16 December 2013}}</ref>]]
] of the hydroxyl (-OH) functional group in an alcohol molecule (R<sub>3</sub>COH). The three "R's" stand for carbon substituents or hydrogen atoms.<ref>{{cite web|title=alcohols|url=http://goldbook.iupac.org/A00204.html|work=IUPAC Gold Book|accessdate=16 December 2013}}</ref>]]
Ball-and-stick model of the hydroxyl (-OH) functional group in an alcohol molecule (R3COH). The three "R's" stand for carbon substituents or hydrogen atoms.
In medicine and pharmacology, alcohols are a highly-diverse class of organic compounds that contain one or more hydroxyl functional groups (-OH) bound to a carbon atom. They occur naturally in the sugars, lipids and proteins of all living organisms. Some alcohols, principally ethanol, that have anxiolytic, euphoriant, depressant, hypnotic or sedative effects are widely used as recreational drugs. Alcohols in beverages are usually fermented, in contrast to some pharmaceutical alcohols that are synthesized artificially.
Several alcohols act as psychoactive drugs with different degrees of potency and effects. Alcohols contribute flavour and aroma notes to beverages, causing a product to taste sweet, spicy, hot, or solvent-like.
Drinking alcohol or beverage alcohol, is one of the most commonly abused drugs in the world (Meropol, 1996) and part of the drinking culture.
In general, the labels of beverages containing significant alcohol by volume (ABV) must state the actual alcoholic strength (i.e., "x% alc. by vol."), this helps prevent people from unknowingly driving under the influence of alcohol or engaging in other risky behavior without awareness of their level of intoxication.
The term alcohol principally refers to the primary alcoholethanol, the dominating alcohol in alcoholic beverages that are subject to alcohol laws including alcohol monopoly and alcohol taxes in countries that regulate their sale and consumption. However, since then other alcohols have been identified, including isopropanol found in Jamaican rum, which contributes an estimated 21% to the total alcohol intoxication in 40% ABV rum. A tertiary alcohol named tert-Amyl alcohol has been identified in beer (the third-most popular drink overall, after water and tea). tert-Amyl alcohol is sometimes used as a recreational drug.
Some beverages such as rum, whisky (especially Bourbon), incompletely rectified vodka (e.g. Siwucha), and traditional ales and ciders are expected to contain non-hazardous aroma alcohols as part of their flavor profile. European legislation demands a minimum content of higher alcohols in certain distilled beverages (spirits) to give them their expected distinct flavour.
Primary alcohols
These are simple alcohols unless otherwise specified.
Ball-and-stick model of tert-Amyl alcohol (2M2B), which is 20 times more intoxicating than ethanol and like all tertiary alcohols, cannot be metabolised to toxic aldehydes.
Some tertiary alcohols with historical medical use have been used as ethyl alcohol substitutes as they are not metabolized into toxic aldehydes like acetaldehyde:
Since ancient times, people around the world have been drinking alcoholic beverages and it still remains very popular for recreational drug use. Reasons for drinking alcoholic beverages vary and include:
In countries that have a drinking culture, social stigma may cause many people not to view alcohol as a drug because it is an important part of social events. In these countries, many young binge drinkers prefer to call themselves hedonists rather than binge drinkers or recreational drug users. Undergraduate students often position themselves outside the categories of "serious" or "anti-social" drinkers, or "drugged" while drunk. However, about 40 percent of college students in the United States could be considered alcoholics according to new criteria in DSM-5 but most college binge drinkers and drug users don't develop lifelong problems.
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing. It is considered by some to be a disease. In psychiatry several other terms have been used, specifically "alcohol abuse", "alcohol dependence," and "alcohol use disorder" which have slightly different definitions. Alcohol misuse has the potential to damage almost every organ in the body, including the brain. The cumulative toxic effects of chronic alcohol abuse can cause both medical and psychiatric problems.
Alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the recurring use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. Alcohol abuse is sometimes referred to by the less specific term alcoholism. However, many definitions of alcoholism exist, and only some are compatible with alcohol abuse. There are two types of alcoholics: those who have anti-social and pleasure-seeking tendencies, and those who are anxiety-ridden people who are able to go without drinking for long periods of time but are unable to control themselves once they start. Binge drinking is another form of alcohol abuse. According to research done through international surveys, the heaviest drinkers are the United Kingdom's adolescent generation.
Alcohol dependence
Alcohol dependence is a substance related disorder in which an individual is addicted to alcohol either physically or mentally, and continues to use alcohol despite significant areas of dysfunction, evidence of physical dependence, and/or related hardship.
Alcohol-related crimes
Results of the ISCD 2010 study ranking the levels of damage caused by drugs, in the opinion of drug-harm experts.
Driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI), is the crime of driving a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol or other drugs including those prescribed by physicians.
In the case of alcohol, a drunk driver's level of intoxication is typically determined by a measurement of blood alcohol content or BAC. A BAC measurement in excess of a specific threshold level, such as 0.05% or 0.08%, defines the criminal offense with no need to prove impairment. In some jurisdictions, there is an aggravated category of the offense at a higher BAC level, such as 0.12%. In most countries, anyone who is convicted of injuring or killing someone while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs can be heavily fined in addition to being given a lengthy prison sentence.
Drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) is a sexual assault carried out after the victim has become incapacitated due to having consumed alcohol or other drugs.
Alcohol remains the most commonly used predator drug, being readily available as well as legal, and is said to be used in the majority of sexual assaults. Many assailants use alcohol because their victims often willingly imbibe it, and can be encouraged to drink enough to lose inhibitions or consciousness. Sex with an unconscious victim is considered rape in most if not all jurisdictions, and some assailants have committed "rapes of convenience" whereby they have assaulted a victim after he or she had become unconscious from drinking too much.
Outbreaks of methanol poisoning have occurred when methanol is used to adulterate moonshine (bootleg liquor).
Methanol has a high toxicity in humans. If as little as 10 mL of pure methanol is ingested, for example, it can break down into formic acid, which can cause permanent blindness by destruction of the optic nerve, and 30 mL is potentially fatal, although the median lethal dose is typically 100 mL (3.4 fl oz) (i.e. 1–2 mL/kg body weight of pure methanol). Reference dose for methanol is 0.5 mg/kg/day. Toxic effects take hours to start, and effective antidotes can often prevent permanent damage. Because of its similarities in both appearance and odor to ethanol (the alcohol in beverages), it is difficult to differentiate between the two.
Historical uses
Before the development of modern medicines, alcohol was used for a variety of medical purposes. It has been known to be used as a truth drug (as hinted at by the maxim "in vino veritas"), as medicine for depression and as an anesthetic.
Alcohol laws regulate the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Such laws often seek to reduce the availability of these beverages for the purpose of reducing the health and social effects of their consumption.
In particular, such laws specify the legal drinking age which usually varies between 16 and 25 years, sometimes depending on the type of drink. Some countries do not have a legal drinking or purchasing age, but most set the age at 18 years. This can also take the form of distribution only in licensed stores or in monopoly stores. Often, this is combined with some form of taxation. In some jurisdictionsalcoholic beverages have been totally prohibited for reasons of religion (e.g., Islamic countries with certain interpretations of sharia law) or perceived public morals and health (e.g., Prohibition in the United States from 1920 to 1933).
D. W. Yandell; et al. (1888). "Amylene hydrate, a new hypnotic". The American Practitioner and News. 5. Lousville KY: John P. Morton & Co: 88–89. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)
"Methanol Poisoning". Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine. Archived from the original on 2006-01-07. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
Barceloux DG, Bond GR, Krenzelok EP, Cooper H, Vale JA (2002). "American Academy of Clinical Toxicology practice guidelines on the treatment of methanol poisoning". J. Toxicol. Clin. Toxicol. 40 (4): 415–46. doi:10.1081/CLT-120006745. PMID12216995.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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al.], edited by Christopher P. Holstege ... [et. Criminal poisoning: clinical and forensic perspectives. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. p. 232. ISBN0763744638. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
Date Rape. Survive.org.uk (2000-03-20). Retrieved on June 1, 2011.
