Do you like to drink alcohol? We enjoy the occasional glass of wine. Okay, maybe we indulge more than that, but we make it a goal to not actually get drunk.

Alcohol is certainly widely consumed in our society. Walk into any liquor store, and it’s like a grown up version of a candy store. The bottles and their labels look so appealing.

Would you still drink alcohol if it were more harmful than heroin or crack? You’re probably saying, “of course not.”

Professor David Nutt published a research study in 2010 that compared just how harmful nine different drugs were to individuals and to other people around them. On a scale where 100 equals maximum harm, alcohol rated 72. Meanwhile, heroin rated 55 and crack rated 54. Heroin, crack and crystal meth were all rated as the most harmful to individuals, but alcohol was the most harmful when it came to its effects on society.

Professor Nutt isn’t necessarily saying that you should put down your glass of wine (or drink of choice). In fact, he and his daughter actually own a wine bar. Instead, he and his team have been working hard to create a synthetic alcohol-like substance that gives people the fussy, tipsy feeling they like without the nasty side-effects.

This molecule is called Alcosynth, but the brand name is Alcarelle. This product still needs to be regulated, which usually takes about three years, but Professor Nutt believes that it will take longer than that since this product is so unique.

Once Alcarelle is ready to be sold, the team plans to sell it to the alcohol industry so they can add it to beverages you already enjoy.

Jonny Forsyth is a global drinks analyst at Mintel. He thinks Alcarelle will really appeal to younger people who are health conscious and don’t want pictures of themselves getting drunk showing up on social media.

When someone drinks Alcarelle, the effects only last 45 minutes. After that, there aren’t any negative side effects – no hangover, headache, nausea, etc. Alcarelle won’t damage your liver either. You can go back to work or life as usual.

Professor Nutt said, “The industry knows alcohol is a toxic substance. If it were discovered today, it would be illegal as a foodstuff. The safe limit of alcohol, if you apply food standards criteria, would be one glass of wine a year.”

Listen to Professor Nutt describe this revolutionary new product in the video below.

 

Currently, there are around 88,000 alcohol-related deaths in the United States every year. Hopefully this new product will help greatly reduce that number.

What are your thoughts about this new synthetic version of alcohol? Would you drink it if it were currently available?