From The Drinks Business, January 18, 2023:
An alternative to ethanol has been developed to help people to feel like they’re drinking alcohol, without any of the side effects.
The new molecular compound, named Alcarelle, has been created by a team led by Imperial College London’s neuropsycho pharmacology expert Professor David Nutt and has reportedly been two years in the making.
The synthetic alcohol Alcarelle is currently with regulators seeking approval and, if approved, is set to soon become aimed at consumers who enjoy the buzz of drinking as well as the relaxation it offers without the health implications, loss of control or hangovers.
Nutt, who was the UK government’s drugs adviser under New Labour but was sacked in 2009 by home secretary Alan Johnson for claiming that alcohol is more dangerous than ecstasy or LSD, said: “Alcohol is my favourite drug, and it has the huge benefit of helping us socialise as humans” but revealed “alcohol mimics a chemical called GABA which is produced in the brain. We now know there are 15 subtypes of GABA receptor present in lots of different parts of the brain and that alcohol will bind to all of them and cause lots of side-effects.”
Nutt explained: “With our synthetic alcohol, we’ve been targeting the receptors in the parts of the brain which regulate how you feel and how you interact and how you socialise.”....
....MUCH MORE
