A Pharmacological Approach to Alcoholism

THE DRUG I intend to discuss is ethyl alcohol, also commonly known as ethanol, and I want to start by orienting you as a pharmacologist would be oriented. Alcohol is one of a group of aliphatic sedatives or soporifics, which include liquid substances such as paraldehyde, solid drugs such as the barbiturates, and gases like ether and chloroform. These drugs are not narcotics, which take away pain but do not necessarily put one to sleep. The soporifics don't do anything against pain but do put one to sleep. They all belong to one group of compounds, the members of which possess similar pharmacological behavior. Quantitatively, there are differences, in how quickly they start to act and how long they last, but they are all sedatives with the same qualitative effects.