Alcohol for Sale
The most widely used drug in the world is not aspirin, nor penicillin, nor
any other substance commonly prescribed by physicians. It is a substance of
minor medical importance, yet it is consumed daily by tens of millions of
people, sometimes in dangerous quantities, and on occasion, by hundreds of
millions more. Indeed a large majority of the world’s people have probably
partaken of it, or will partake of it, at some time during their lives. This
drug is a colorless, volatile liquid known to the chemist as ethanol, or ethyl
alcohol, but to almost everybody else it is simply alcohol. Because of its
widespread use and abuse, it is the object of intensive study by many medical
scientists. And the extensive nature of their research makes it possible to draw
a full-length portrait of the drug that can serve as a case study of how any
drug is investigated scientifically. For the questions a pharmacologist asks
about alcohol and the kind of answers he gets have close parallels in al drug
research.
If it is a drug, why do businesses can easily put alcohol for sale? Alcohol
has a biphasic effect on the body, which is to say that its effects change over
time. Initially, alcohol generally produces feelings of relaxation and
cheerfulness.
On several counts alcohol deserves first place in any discussion of drugs.
Not only is it one of the most common of all drugs, but it is better understood
than most. It is almost certainly the oldest drug, and perhaps the most
important. Alcohol has been produced and consumed by man since before the dawn
of civilization. Every civilized or uncivilized people on earth today that lives
by farming produces some form of alcoholic beverage.
In modern times, businesses that put alcohol for sale are offering more than
the alcohol itself, they are offering and selling status. Depending on the type
of alcohol (whiskey, vodka, rum, beer, etc.) and brand, it is measured by people
the social position (poor or rich) and the character (intelligent,
sophisticated, or simple minded) of the one who buys it.
The success of putting alcohol for sale is happiness. The euphoric effects of
ethanol are probably due to its causing the release of endorphins, the body's
natural response to pleasurable activity. What are endorphins? Endorphins are
endogenous opioid biochemical compounds. They are peptides produced by the
pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates, and they resemble the
opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a sense of well-being. In
other words, they work as "natural pain killers". This explains why a lot of
people after a hard day’s work, high body activity and/or full of stress look
for something that make them feel comfortable, happy, and relaxed.
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