I had my first drink when I was 14 years old at a family thanksgiving gathering. The homemade cherry heering was enough to give my quite the euphoric feeling and a strong alcohol buzz. I enjoyed the feeling soo much, in fact, that even at such a young age it became a fairly large part of my life.
Alcohol
Well-documented
Well-documented
Multiple authoritative sources agree on dosing and effects.
- 4 corroborating sources
- 1 ROA with full dose ladder
- duration data present
- 27 combo interactions documented
- toxicity data (PsychonautWiki, PubChem)
Well-documented
Multiple authoritative sources agree on dosing and effects.
- 4 corroborating sources
- 1 ROA with full dose ladder
- duration data present
- 27 combo interactions documented
- toxicity data (PsychonautWiki, PubChem)
Aliases: Beer, Wine, Etoh, Booze, Hooch, ethanol
Summary
Ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol, ethyl hydroxide, drinking alcohol or simply alcohol) is a depressant substance of the alcohol class. It is the primary psychoactive component of alcoholic drinks, liquors and spirits; making it the second-most widely used recreational substance globally (after caffeine). The alcoholic beverage known as beer is the most widely consumed beverage in the world after water and tea.
Dose Information
| ROA | Light | Common | Strong | Heavy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | 10-20g | 20-30g | 30-40g | 40g+ |
Light
Common
Strong
Heavy
Sources
Oral
Dose ladder — PsychonautWikiOnset, Duration & After-effects
| ROA | Onset | Comeup | Peak | Offset | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | 0-6 min | 12-48 min | 30-90 min | 0.8-2 hrs | 1.5-3 hrs |
Tolerance
Build-up
develops gradually over weeks to months of regular drinking
Reset
Falls after you stop, at a rate that varies from person to person. If you've been using regularly, cut down gradually with medical help rather than stopping suddenly.
No tolerance chart. Our decay curves for these drugs were estimates, and a curve can make tolerance look longer-lasting than it is, which is the dangerous direction.
How fast tolerance to these drugs fades after a break has not been measured well enough to draw, so don't count on a dose you used to take still being safe: after time off, start with a much smaller amount and don't use alone. Mixing sedatives with each other, with alcohol or with opioids sharply raises the risk of a fatal overdose. If you've been using regularly, don't stop suddenly: withdrawal from benzodiazepines, alcohol or GHB/GBL can cause seizures or delirium, so get medical help to cut down gradually.
Sources: FRANK: benzodiazepines · Alcohol and Drug Foundation: GHB · FDA 2020: benzodiazepine boxed warning · FDA 2019: gabapentinoids and breathing · NHS: alcohol use disorder
Effects
Aggregated from 145 single-substance Erowid and 38 Bluelight experience reports; 991 Erowid reports where another drug was taken too are left out
Each bar shows the share of analyzed reports whose text mentions that effect — a mention is not always a first-hand experience (fear of an effect or something witnessed can count). Mentions saying the effect did not happen are left out; that check reads keywords, so it can miss some. The shaded band on a bar, and the small range after its number, is the 95% interval: where the share could plausibly be with other reports of the same kind. Fewer reports, wider band. Tap or hover any number for details. The second value is the Bluelight extractor's per-effect confidence; a dash means the row is Erowid-derived, which has no confidence measurement.
Effect glossary — · full glossary
Positive Effects 44
21.1% (95% interval 11 to 36 percent)
86%
15.9% (95% interval 11 to 22 percent)
88%
15.3% (95% interval 11 to 21 percent)
80%
15.3% (95% interval 11 to 21 percent)
75%
10.5% (95% interval 4 to 24 percent)
82%
10.5% (95% interval 4 to 24 percent)
76%
9.8% (95% interval 6 to 15 percent)
85%
9.3% (95% interval 6 to 14 percent)
81%
7.9% (95% interval 3 to 21 percent)
82%
7.9% (95% interval 3 to 21 percent)
87%
7.9% (95% interval 3 to 21 percent)
83%
7.9% (95% interval 3 to 21 percent)
82%
5.5% (95% interval 3 to 10 percent)
–
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
85%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
88%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
82%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
82%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
82%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
82%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
78%
Show 24 more positive effects
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
78%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
80%
4.9% (95% interval 3 to 9 percent)
85%
3.8% (95% interval 2 to 8 percent)
79%
3.2% (95% interval 2 to 7 percent)
65%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
70%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
75%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
90%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.1% (95% interval 1 to 6 percent)
–
Adverse Effects 62
37.1% (95% interval 30 to 44 percent)
87%
28.9% (95% interval 17 to 45 percent)
90%
27.3% (95% interval 21 to 34 percent)
84%
26.3% (95% interval 15 to 42 percent)
80%
26.2% (95% interval 20 to 33 percent)
84%
23.7% (95% interval 13 to 39 percent)
77%
22.9% (95% interval 18 to 30 percent)
78%
21.1% (95% interval 11 to 36 percent)
88%
18.6% (95% interval 14 to 25 percent)
81%
18.4% (95% interval 9 to 33 percent)
81%
15.8% (95% interval 7 to 30 percent)
82%
13.2% (95% interval 6 to 27 percent)
91%
13.2% (95% interval 6 to 27 percent)
84%
10.5% (95% interval 4 to 24 percent)
80%
10.5% (95% interval 4 to 24 percent)
82%
10.5% (95% interval 4 to 24 percent)
81%
9.8% (95% interval 6 to 15 percent)
80%
Auditory Effects
9.3% (95% interval 6 to 14 percent)
90%
7.9% (95% interval 3 to 21 percent)
87%
7.9% (95% interval 3 to 21 percent)
82%
4.1% (95% interval 2 to 9 percent)
–
Show 41 more adverse effects
7.9% (95% interval 3 to 21 percent)
88%
7.9% (95% interval 3 to 21 percent)
85%
7.9% (95% interval 3 to 21 percent)
85%
6.5% (95% interval 4 to 11 percent)
79%
5.4% (95% interval 3 to 10 percent)
88%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
82%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
82%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
82%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
88%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
88%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
78%
5.3% (95% interval 2 to 17 percent)
78%
3.3% (95% interval 2 to 7 percent)
88%
2.8% (95% interval 1 to 6 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
75%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
75%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
95%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
60%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
75%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
70%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
90%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
70%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
85%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
75%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
70%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
75%
2.6% (95% interval 0 to 14 percent)
80%
Also reported in combinations. In the 991 Alcohol reports where another drug was taken too, 134 (13.5%) mention hospital, emergency services or an overdose, 39 (3.9%) a seizure and 36 (3.6%) psychosis. In the 145 single-substance reports: 15.2%, 4.1% and 0.0%. These are not in the figures above: they cannot be put down to Alcohol alone, and a mention is not always something that happened to the writer.
Combinations
Cross-Check Alcohol with another substanceCommunity Trip Reports
Anecdotal first-person accounts from Reddit, Erowid, Bluelight, and Dose.wiki. Click a source to expand. Reports are harm-reduction context, not medical guidance. Tags summarise each author's own verdict — how reports are classified.
Erowid 8 reports 2 positive 1 neutral 5 cautionary visit
Now I drink a bit , not alot but once in a while I'll part. The exprience I had with some rum and coke was rather well. It all started at my friends girlfriends house. She fed me about 7 shot's and I got a buzz , then I decided to add some Coke Cola to the mix.
The First Day "Do you know what it is like", she asked, crying and quaking, "to be second to booze?" He had no answer, for the truth of the matter was that even he was second to booze. He had always loved the drink more than himself, more than her.
I'm 17 years old, male, in the 12th grade, and do pretty good at school (I get C's, B's, and A's). I'm not in any social groups, but I do hang out with a wide variety of friends: anyone from addicted drug dealers who live in the slums, to drug free, rich, popular Christian school wrestlers, to acid head neo-hippies.
The heavy is drinker is an unusual thing. The ability to consume large amounts of alcohol with minimal side effects for one thing, and the general apathy for all things non-alcohol related, such as sobriety or responsibility, and especially finance.
The day started out like many other summer days -- a couple of friends and I decided to get drunk. (M, B, & myself. We also had a sober friend, J) The best way to do that, in our opinion, was to split a 750ml bottle of 151 proof rum.
Last night, new years eve 2004, was the second time in only a period of a few months that I almost died several different ways in a drunken stupor. This only happens when I hang out with my friend 'S', quite possibly the worst drinking buddy ever; but what he did for me last night is just amazing.
Since I haven't yet had any drug experiences other than alcohol yet in my life, I couldn't possibly think of any greater way of helping but to give a description of my first time usage and aftereffects. Background: I'm 19 years old now, unemployed and looking for a job.
Bluelight 6 threads 1 positive 3 neutral 2 cautionary visit
This took place some time in the past... It had been many years since I had last had wormwood, or more accurately, what was given to me as "absinthe jello shots" at a festival. I remember the jello shots kicked in quickly and left me feeling spacey with a touch of "zoom vision".
So over Christmas break freshman year, we had some relatives over, and like every Christmas break my parents were drinking every night (not like alcoholics or whatever, just normal partying type stuff).
So last night we went out and were drinking as usual for a Thursday night. The plan is usually a house party and then the bars. I got fairly drunk first and then later we headed over to our friends house to smoke some mairjuana. This particular marijuana usually itensifies our drunk state in an amazing way.
Hi there have been a member for a long while but have not done many posts. My previous experience are with cannabis, extascy, mephedrone, pscilocyban mushrooms, san pedro cactus, kratom, codein water, amanita muscaria, LSA, MPA, ethylphenidate, dimethocaine, speed, JWH-018, Am-2201 and now AKB-48F.
Okay so I'll start off with a little background information. I'm 18 years old, have a general anxiety disorder and depression and have been drinking pretty excessively for the last 2-3 years. I usually drink around 10 drinks either on friday or saturday night, sometimes both.
A while back me and some old friends didn't have a lot of money. Me and another one of my friends where staying the night at a friends house. We didn't have money but still wanted to get fucked up some how.
Alcohol's nerd page
Pharmacology, chemical data, effect profiles, and more
→
Helpful Links
Import into PsychonautWiki Journal
The PsychonautWiki Journal app includes Alcohol, but its built-in data can be thinner than ours. Importing this file adds a separate "Alcohol (Substance Search)" custom substance with our dose ranges and durations, so you can log against whichever you prefer. It leaves tolerance out on purpose, for the reason given under Tolerance above.
⬇ Download import file
Import this file as custom substances
and you get "Alcohol (Substance Search)" with every
route's full dose ladder and timeline, no typing. Works on iOS and
Android (v15+); the format is confirmed by the app's
developer.
Ranges are harm-reduction guidance, not a prescription.
Report an issue or suggest an edit
Spotted incorrect or dangerous information, have a correction, a new study, or a useful addition for Alcohol? Let us know. Reports are reviewed by moderators — this is not posted publicly.