Alcohol (drug)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol, although there are other types of alcohol.
Although it is very popular, ethanol is a very strong psychoactive drug with a depressant effect, and many societies regulate or restrict its sale and consumption. The drug is often overlooked in its potency. A mere .08% blood alcohol content is often considered legal drunkenness. Countries place various legal restrictions on the sale of alcoholic drinks to young people. The manufacture and consumption of alcohol is found to some degree in most cultures and societies around the world, from hunter-gatherer tribes to organized nation states. The consumption of alcohol is often important at social events in such societies and may be an important aspect of a community's culture.
Alcoholic beverages are addictive when consumed in high doses and the state of addiction to ethanol is known as alcoholism.
History
The purposeful production of alcoholic beverages is common in many cultures and often reflects their cultural and religious peculiarities as much as their geographical and sociological conditions.
The discovery of late Stone Age beer jugs has established the fact that purposely fermented beverages existed at least as early as c. 10,000 BC. It has been suggested that beer may have preceded bread as a staple.
See also
- Alcoholism
- Wine, women and song
- Sex, drugs and rock 'n roll
- Drugs
- History of drugs
- Wine, women and song