DOSE:

repeated

oral

Alcohol - Hard

(liquid)

BODY WEIGHT:

200 lb

Alcohol had always held a special place in my mind, having been raised in an Irish household where alcohol use was considered normal and even beneficial. Unlike other psychoactives, which I held in very low regard until finding online resources, I had always considered alcohol to be something apart, a part of my culture. Alcohol seemed like a powerful social tool: it allowed people to laugh together, cry together, and express themselves more freely.

As a result of the highly permissive environment, I grew up with alcohol and experienced it in gradually larger amounts throughout my life. I was allowed a very, very small sip of wine at some dinners when I was very young, and when I was 12 I was given my first pint of beer by my mother’s best friend when we visited Ireland.

In my freshman year of high school my best friend, referred here as P, and I decided to experience proper inebriation. When my parents went to sleep we raided the liquor cabinets for booze of varying types, intending to try any and all we liked the look of.
We started with scotch whiskey, which we both agreed was extremely good. We then proceeded to vodka (plain, but certainly useful), rum (sweet, rough), gin (like broken promises; bitter and makes you want to cry), peppermint schnapps, and various highballs and odd combinations. The oddest and most successful of these was a mixture of the scotch whiskey with a glass of sake (Japanese rice wine). We dubbed this cocktail the Iranese, and agree it to be one hell of a drink. Sadly, we have gotten no others to try this drink.

The effects of alcohol inebriation, unlike cannabis inebriation, are much easier to observe as each shot of alcohol is delivered. I have created a rather crude scale, to illustrate my personal experience, backed by P’s own observations.

Shot 1: “Cooking”. Slightly elevated mood, slightly decreased slef-conciousness. Feeling more outgoing and confidant. No perceptible physical changes.

Shot 2-3: “Buzzed” Mood noticeably elevated, social reserves noticeably decreased. Definite confidence, a sense of empowerment. Very slight physical effect; movement of limbs feels ever so slightly slower.

Shot 3-5: “Well-Buzzed” Laughter comes much more easily and is longer and more satisfying, conversation is very easily performed and things seem more interesting. Slight flushing and noticeable slowing of reflexes, but gross and fine motor control unimpaired. Definitely unsafe to drive, but one can very easily act sober.

Shot 5-8: “Drunk” Moderate flushing and occasional uncontrollable giggling. Movement and reflexes slowed: moving the head seems to require the eyes to “catch up” and adjust. Fine motor control slightly impaired, but gross motor control still within sober parameters.

Shot 9-12: “Quite Drunk” Flushing, laughter and slight mood swings. Coordination noticeably difficult, speech is affected (easy to become tongue-tied). Fine motor skills such as writing and manipulating objects (like bottle tops or pretzel packages) require much more conscious effort, gross motor skills perceptively impaired (walking a straight line harder).
Shot 13-15: “Plastered” Mood and thoughts difficult to control. Limbs feel heavy and difficult to operate, all motor skills impaired enough to be easily noticeable by outsiders. Speech impaired (slurring, tongue tying, lisping). Feelings of empathy towards others, alternating with feelings of extreme irritation. Difficulty remembering short-term goals (like getting up to get water).
Shot 16+: “Heavy Intoxication” Conscious thought extremely difficult, vision very hazy and slow to adjust. Some vision problems like double vision. Speech is either impossible or garbled, and when coherent makes little sense. Emotions run hot and change at the drop of a pin. All motor control severely impaired, the act of walking is nearly impossible. Vomiting as alcohol reaches toxic levels. Short term amnesia.

P and I stopped drinking at shot 17 due to our inability to find the liquor and also since we had begun to vomit copiously. I retain clear memory of the remainder of the night, namely our difficult journey upstairs to bed and our repeatedly telling one another that we were “just great, I love this guy, this guy here, he’s great…” P blacked out after vomiting, so he takes my word for the remainder of the night.

We both awoke feeling stomach discomfort and heavy, foggy heads. The mere thought of liquor produced a gag reflex. It took me about a week before I felt able to drink again, but P has taken much longer. I am happy to report however that he has recovered completely from taste aversion.

The experience was interesting and overall positive, and taught us our limits before we did something stupid in the proper adult world. I still alcohol as a positive social tool, and since that night use it responsibly and to great positive effect. It also has interesting combination effects with cannabis, and using the two together feels like a new substance entirely.

Exp Year: 2005	ExpID: 68453
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jun 25, 2018	Views: 4,096
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Alcohol - Hard (198) : General (1), Small Group (2-9) (17)