Like getting drunk but you hate the morning hangovers? Good news may be on the horizon for you.
David Nutt, a London based scientist, has been working on a safe form of synthetic alcohol that gives you all the joys of drinking but without health issues, hangovers and a risk of overdosing.
In a recent interview he did with British newspaper The Guardian , the scientist revealed that he and his team have been working hard over the past decade with an aim of introducing a substitute named “Alcarelle” or “Alcosynth” that is set to be introduced to bars and stores within the next five years.
Alcarelle works by stimulating only the “good” receptors and avoiding the “bad” ones. According to Mr. Nutt, the team also plans to design a “peak effect” into the drug which would mean that no matter how much someone consumes, they won't be at risk of getting uncontrollably drunk.
Drinkers will instead be able to choose between doses that provide the kind of social lubrication suited for parties and others more appropriate for business-lunch scenarios.
Nutt says that although they have already developed these forms of Alcarelle, only his business partner and a handful of others have tried it out since the drug hasn't completed necessary safety tests yet. “The real challenge is taking that molecule to a drink. The regulatory side is much harder than the science,” says Nutt.
The team has put up a five-year plan and aims to introduce the molecule as a food additive or ingredient in order to avoid the kind of clinical trials associated with introducing a new drug.
Nutt finishes off by saying they will obviously be testing to check if the molecule is safe and will demonstrate that it does not produce toxicity like alcohol does. “We don't want hangovers.”