Doctors are testing a drug that could stop alcohol making people drunk, says the Daily Mail. The researchers believe iomazenil, taken before drinking, might negate some of alcohol’s effects on the brain.
How popular do you think this drug will be? Here’s a clue. Ask yourself: how many people would drink alcohol if it didn’t alter their mood? (And there is, of course, absolutely no way of distinguishing between the mood-enhancing properties of alcohol and its intoxicating effects.)
As The Fix makes clear, the ability of alcohol to get you pissed is making it more, not less, popular. Binge drinking is about mood, not flavour. In fact, when students gather to get slaughtered together, it’s noticeable that many of them will be drinking cocktails or alcopops whose selling point is that they disguise the unpalatable taste of alcohol.
One of the purposes of iomazenil is to protect us from drunk drivers. I’m sceptical. If you’ve got to be sober at the end of the evening, why not stick to soft drinks, rather than slurping the same number of pints as your mates but without the buzz? I’d say iomazenil would make being the designated driver an even more miserable experience than it is at the moment.
Believe me, this new drug will not catch on. Alcohol is a drug and that’s why people take it.
Posted in: Booze
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