This week’s discussions centred around ethanol and it’s many different pathways that it effects. This is relatively new research, and not much is known about how this knowledge can be used to fight issues surrounding alcohol use. For me, the biggest issues with alcohol use and abuse are societal issues. I have known many foreign exchange students from Germany and other European countries. Many of them say that the difference between the United States and other countries’ drinking practices is that because alcohol is so much a part of their society, in Europe they drink for social reasons, and in America a lot of young people drink to get drunk. This is where a lot of problems come in, when alcohol is drunken for its effects. I think that alcohol will always be a substance that is both legal and widely used because it is so engrained into our society. Knowing how alcohol takes its effects is useful from the point of view of simply “knowledge is power,” but until we can find a helpful use for this knowledge, it doesn’t help those that are using alcohol all that much. Perhaps the scientific community can develop a sort of pill that can be taken while drinking to stop the aversive effects before they start. Most people continue to drink because they like the initial feel of relaxation and disinhibition, but if we can stop the pathway of ethanol before it inhibits reasoning and decision making this would be a very beneficial use of the knowledge we have.
Alcohol as a social issue
