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Alcohol Stats & Data

Depressant

Beer Wine Etoh Booze Hooch ethanol

PubChem CID 702

PubChem

MW46.07

FormulaC2H6O

LogP-0.1

IUPACethanol

InChIKeyLFQSCWFLJHTTHZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N

Chemical Class Alkanol

Psychoactive Class Depressant

Pharmacology

DrugBank

State Liquid Absorption Rapidly absorbed.

Description

A clear, colorless liquid rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and distributed throughout the body. It has bactericidal activity and is used often as a topical disinfectant. It is widely used as a solvent and preservative in pharmaceutical preparations as well as serving as the primary ingredient in alcoholic beverages.

Mechanism of Action

Ethanol affects the brain’s neurons in several ways. It alters their membranes as well as their ion channels, enzymes, and receptors. Alcohol also binds directly to the receptors for acetylcholine, serotonin, GABA, and the NMDA receptors for glutamate. The sedative effects of ethanol are mediated through binding to GABA receptors and glycine receptors (alpha 1 and alpha 2 subunits). It also inhibits NMDA receptor functioning. In its role as an anti-infective, ethanol acts as an osmolyte or dehydrating agent that disrupts the osmotic balance across cell membranes.

Pharmacodynamics

Alcohol produces injury to cells by dehydration and precipitation of the cytoplasm or protoplasm. This accounts for its bacteriocidal and antifungal action. When alcohol is injected in close proximity to nerve tissues, it produces neuritis and nerve degeneration (neurolysis). Ninety to 98% of ethanol that enters the body is completely oxidized. Ethanol is also used as a cosolvent to dissolve many insoluble drugs and to serve as a mild sedative in some medicinal formulations. Ethanol also binds to GABA, glycine, NMDA receptors and modulates their effects. Ethanol is also metabolised by the hepatic enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase.

Metabolism

Hepatic. Metabolized by cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP2E1.

Indication

For therapeutic neurolysis of nerves or ganglia for the relief of intractable chronic pain in such conditions as inoperable cancer and trigeminal neuralgia (tic douloureux), in patients for whom neurosurgical procedures are contraindicated.

Measured Affinities

Guide to PHARMACOLOGY

Measured binding and functional data for ethanol, curated by the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY. Each row cites the paper it came from. Lower concentrations mean tighter binding — a value in the sub-nanomolar range indicates a very potent interaction.

Target	Action	Measure	Value	Concentration	Species	Source
TRPV6 TRPV6	Activation	pEC50	0.82	151,356,127 nM	Human	PMID 35705057
5-HT3A Htr3a	Positive	-	—	—	Mouse	—
Glycine Receptor (All subtypes)	Potentiation	-	—	—	Human	PMID 8700149
Kir3.1 Kcnj3	Agonist	-	—	—	Mouse	—
Kir3.2	Agonist	-	—	—	None	—
Kir3.4 Kcnj5	Activator	-	—	—	Mouse	—

Reading this. pKi, pEC50 and pIC50 are negative log molar values, so a higher number means a tighter interaction; the concentration column converts them for you. Values from non-human species are laboratory measurements and do not translate directly to human effect. Receptor affinity is not a dose — it describes what a molecule binds, not how much of it is safe to take.

Receptor data from the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY (v2026.2), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Matched to this substance by InChIKey.

Subjective Effects

Physical

The physical effects of alcohol can be broken down into several components which progressively intensify proportional to dosage.

Nausea
Pain relief
Motor control loss
Dizziness
Sedation
Frequent urination
Dehydration
Tactile suppression
Temporary erectile dysfunction
Headaches
Respiratory depression
Difficulty urinating
Increased blood pressure

Cognitive

The cognitive effects of alcohol can be broken down into several components which progressively intensify proportional to dosage.

Disinhibition
Ego inflation
Information processing suppression
Thought deceleration
Empathy, love and sociability enhancement
Amnesia
Euphoria
Depression
Compulsive redosing

Sensory

Auditory

Auditory suppression

Visual · Suppressions

Double vision
Acuity suppression
Pattern recognition suppression
Visual disconnection

Forked from Subjective Effect Documentation by Josie Kins, September 2015. Via dose.wiki (CC0).

Toxicity

PsychonautWiki PubChem DrugBank

The sensible use of alcohol in the short term is extremely unlikely to have any positive or detrimental effects on one's physical health. However, despite the widespread use and alcohol's legality in most countries, many medical sources tend to describe any level of alcohol intoxication as a form of poisoning due to ethanol's damaging effects on the body in large doses. The long-term effects of alcohol consumption range from cardioprotective health benefits for low to moderate alcohol consumption in industrialized societies with higher rates of cardiovascular disease to severe detrimental effects in cases of chronic alcohol abuse. High levels of alcohol consumption are associated with an increased risk of alcoholism, malnutrition, chronic pancreatitis, alcoholic liver disease, and cancer.

LD50

LD50: 5628 mg/kg (Oral, rat)

Carcinogenicity

Group 1: Carcinogenic to humans

Long-term effects

The main active ingredient of wine, beer and distilled spirits is alcohol. Drinking small quantities of alcohol (less than one drink in women and two in men per day) is debated to decreased the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, and early death. Drinking more than this amount, however, increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and stroke.

Tolerance & Pharmacokinetics

drugs.wiki

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

Cross-Tolerances

GHB

GBL

Phenibut

Experience Report Analysis

Erowid BlueLight

1,136 Reports

145 Single-substance

1990–2025 Date Range

380 With Age Data

24 Effects Detected

Demographics

Gender Distribution

Age Distribution

Reports Over Time

Effect Analysis

Erowid + Bluelight

Effects aggregated from 183 experience reports (145 single-substance Erowid + 38 Bluelight)

183 Reports

114 Effects Detected

44 Positive

59 Adverse

11 Neutral

Effect Sentiment Distribution

Confidence Distribution

Each bar is the share of reports mentioning the effect; its whisker, and the band on the rows below, is the 95% interval: where the share could plausibly be with other reports of the same kind.

Positive Effects 44

Sociability Enhancement 21.1% 86%

Euphoria 15.9% 88%

Empathy 15.3% 75%

Sedation 15.3% 80%

Awe 10.5% 82%

Contentment 10.5% 76%

Music Enhancement 9.8% 85%

Stimulation 9.3% 81%

Introspection 7.9% 82%

Morphing 7.9% 87%

Entity Imagery 7.9% 83%

Libido Enhancement 7.9% 82%

Tactile Enhancement 5.5% 70%

Geometric Imagery 5.3% 85%

Oneness 5.3% 88%

Cosmic Significance 5.3% 82%

Group Bonding 5.3% 82%

Joy 5.3% 82%

Environmental Transfiguration 5.3% 82%

Ego Dissolution 5.3% 78%

Adverse Effects 59

Nausea 37.1% 87%

Vomiting 28.9% 90%

Anxiety 27.3% 84%

Body Load 26.3% 80%

Confusion 26.2% 84%

Thought Disorganization 23.7% 77%

Memory Suppression 22.9% 78%

Amnesia 21.1% 88%

Motor Impairment 18.6% 86%

Depersonalization 18.4% 81%

Dizziness 15.8% 82%

Fear 13.2% 91%

Tremor 13.2% 84%

Thought Loops 10.5% 80%

Paranoia 10.5% 82%

Disinhibition 10.5% 81%

Headache 9.8% 80%

Dysphoria 7.9% 87%

Thought Acceleration 7.9% 82%

Panic 7.9% 88%

⚠ Seizure 4.1% 70%

Show 38 more adverse effects

Shame 7.9% 85%

Ataxia 7.9% 85%

Sweating 5.4% 88%

Sadness 5.3% 82%

Time Dilation 5.3% 82%

Insomnia 5.3% 82%

Visual Trails 5.3% 88%

Near-Death Experience 5.3% 88%

Aggression 5.3% 78%

Patterning 5.3% 78%

Appetite Suppression 2.8% 80%

Heaviness 2.6% 85%

Restlessness 2.6% 75%

Chills 2.6% 85%

Isolation Preference 2.6% 75%

Embarrassment 2.6% 95%

Urinary Retention 2.6% 85%

Hyperventilation 2.6% 80%

Blurred Vision 2.6% 80%

Hallucination 2.6% 85%

Emotional Suppression 2.6% 60%

Emotional Release 2.6% 80%

Vulnerability 2.6% 80%

Crying 2.6% 75%

Guilt 2.6% 80%

Drowsiness 2.6% 80%

Pain Enhancement 2.6% 70%

Temporal Disorientation 2.6% 85%

Derealization 2.6% 90%

Tactile Suppression 2.6% 85%

Meta-Awareness Of Irrationality 2.6% 70%

Body Temperature Change 2.6% 85%

Vivid Dreams 2.6% 85%

Disrupted Sleep Architecture 2.6% 80%

Anger 2.6% 75%

Bloating 2.6% 70%

Involuntary Movements 2.6% 75%

Tactile Hallucination 2.6% 80%

Show 11 neutral or unclassified mentions

Hospital 15.2%

Auditory Effects 9.3%

Visual Distortions 6.5%

Hypersomnia 5.3%

Numbness 5.3%

Dissociation 3.3%

Time Distortion 2.8%

Pupil Dilation 2.6%

Double Vision 2.6%

Libido Suppression 2.6%

Frequent Urination 2.6%

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.

Subjective Effect Ontology

Experience Reports

Structured effect tags extracted from 1,174 Erowid & Bluelight experience reports using a controlled vocabulary of 220+ canonical effects across 15 domains.

Auditory

music enhancement 317 27.0% auditory distortions 192 16.9%

Cognitive

confusion 326 27.8% memory suppression 227 19.3% focus enhancement 194 16.5% introspection 111 9.4%

Emotional

anxiety 483 41.1% euphoria 377 32.1% empathy 268 22.8%

Gastrointestinal

nausea 326 27.7%

Motor

stimulation 344 29.3% sedation 285 24.3% motor impairment 133 11.3%

Selfhood

dissociation 136 11.6%

Somatic

body high 121 10.3% headache 100 8.5%

Tactile

tactile enhancement 222 19.5%

Visual

visual distortions 336 28.7% color enhancement 237 20.2% closed eye visuals 122 10.7%

20 unique effects extracted · Derived from Erowid & Bluelight reports

Dosage Distribution

Dose distribution from experience reports, one dose per report (the first listed). Doses above Q3 + 3×IQR, far above what people typically take, are left out of the median and range and listed under each route: most are real heavy doses or overdoses, not mistakes.

Median: 375.0 ml IQR: 300.0–750.0 ml n=40

1 report gave a dose above the typical range (2,250 ml), so it is not in the figures above. Listing a dose here does not mean it is safe.

Show the report

2,250 ml · another drug taken too

Real-World Dose Distribution

Erowid

From 6 of 1946 recorded dose entries: those that state a weight (mg, g or µg), in routes with at least five of them. Values above Q3 + 3×IQR, far above what people typically take, are left out; they can include real heavy doses and overdoses, not only mistakes.

Oral (n=6)

Median: 540.0mg 25th: 57.5mg 75th: 1000.0mg 90th: 3500.0mg

Common Combinations

Most co-occurring substances, as a share of all 1,136 reports filed under Alcohol; whiskers are 95% intervals

Form / Preparation

Most common forms and preparations, as a share of the 592 reports that give one; whiskers are 95% intervals

Redose Patterns

Redosing behavior across 866 reports

14.3% Redosed

1.2 Avg Doses

60m Median Interval

Read full reports on Erowid →

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