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hypnocentrism t1_j3jk0mo wrote

We really need a new drinkable alcohol-like drug that encourages sociability but that doesn't metabolize into a literal body/brain-damaging toxin.

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Karenomegas t1_j3k8cr6 wrote

In my festie days we would just put a drop or two of acid in a decent sized water bottle and sip off it throughout the day.

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calm_chowder t1_j3kopfm wrote

Which would be an excellent alternative if LSD were a legal option and not one of the most tightly controlled drugs in the country, if not the world.

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S_K_Y t1_j3jqi7z wrote

Marijuana infused drinks are the alternate option. They give you the "high" but so far hasn't to my knowledge inflict any long-term damage that I have read anywhere.

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BigBrownDog12 t1_j3jucc6 wrote

Marijuana and alcohol highs are not really the same and can't really be used as a substitution for someone looking for the other

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S_K_Y t1_j3k0oi5 wrote

True but my point was that it's currently the closest thing on the market. I drink alcohol and I've had marijuana drinks. There is a difference but I can't think of anything else that is close and readily available.

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Kevbot1000 t1_j3ksc0q wrote

My partner and I go for zero-alcohol beers, then drop water soluble THC in it (benefits of Canadian weed legality) and that's been a game changer for us.

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marasaidw t1_j3mrh5x wrote

thats a good idea, because weed beverages always have too much thc to just be drank as a bottle.

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come-on-now-please t1_j3kguzh wrote

I wonder how much of a "Social Lubricant" alcohol is vs a placebo, I mean obviously slamming back shot after shot and being absolutely blitzed surrounded by other drunk people is one thing, but if you're only gonna have 1 or 2 light beers how much of the socializing was because of the alcohol vs other factors(atmosphere, ritual of drinking,

Me and my Spouse have started buying NA Beers. They're actually pretty good and honestly if I had to choose between only having one "normal" beer and a NA one, if I a not trying to get tipsy I'm choosing the NA one because there's literally no reason to be putting alcohol in my body.

There's actually a pretty big explosion of NA drinks going on now, I remember trying NA beer like 3 years ago(before the pandemic) and it wasn't exactly great(the NA Stella's didn't seem that bad to me).

Really, I think during the pandemic everyone who was working from home everyone had the "oh oh oh, I'm going to be naughty and DRaank on the job tee hee" urge for a week or too (did anyone else remember the virtual happy hours?) And then we all had a come to Jesus moment of "holy crap I shouldn't be drinking like this" and we al realized we only had maybe coffee and tea as a non water option and we want something different now

Sorry for formatting

https://www.npr.org/2022/01/21/1074133992/non-alcoholic-beer-na-guide-best-dry-january

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whatsnewpussykat t1_j3ki4xu wrote

I’ve been clean and sober for 11 years and the boom of non-alcoholic beverages and mocktails has been great for me in the last few years!

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weedful_things t1_j3ln4sn wrote

I stopped 2 years ago and I worry that drinking a NA beer will do nothing but put the taste back in my mouth and make me give in to temptation.

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cassinonorth t1_j3m0flf wrote

Everyone's different of course but I was a full fledged craft beer nerd, now 4 years sober. I drink maybe two 6 packs of craft NA a year, it's nice for tailgates and parties to not feel weird but they're not cheap and the calories just feel empty.

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weedful_things t1_j3m101m wrote

haha, I probably would have stopped years before, but I discovered the local brewery scene.

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cassinonorth t1_j3m1bkq wrote

Yeah, it's a dangerous "hobby" for sure. Tons of lining up for releases, trading beers, seeking out breweries on trips. Just became such a burden.

I'm sure COVID when all the breweries around me were delivering it would've been a nightmare at home.

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whatsnewpussykat t1_j3lrzi3 wrote

I personally don’t do NA beer for that reason, but just the variety of options beyond pop is awesome!

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weedful_things t1_j3ltpnq wrote

Give me some unsweetened and flavored fizzy water and I'm good to go. Maybe some Earl Grey tea if it's not too late.

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SaladUntossed t1_j3okf4h wrote

Good move on avoiding the NA beer (which isn't even fully NA). That was my brother's big mistake, and the taste came back 10-fold.

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come-on-now-please t1_j3kk04q wrote

Honestly with the health boom and everything we know, I can kinda see drinking beers casually kinda going the way of tobacco. Like if some one "just wants to drink one or two after work to relax" it's gonna be NA beer.

Shrubs too! They're cocktails that use vinegar instead of Alcohol! Need to start making myself those as well!.

Congrats on the Sobriety!

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iloqin t1_j3klws8 wrote

There is a difference between smoking and drinking though. America went through prohibition and that failed miserably. Finally the message about smoking got through for the most part. Also I’m kind of a health nut, the health industry is booming and more x-fit and big box gyms and personal trainers exist, but the world is getting fatter still. The addiction to sugar is real, just ask all your coworkers if they’re willing to only eat meat and veggies. I’d figure 98% of health problems go away, less diabetes/heart/ back and arthritis easily. Easy to say, hard to do. I know I’ve done it for half a year, all health markers improved and fat was lost. HDL up and triglycerides down.

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come-on-now-please t1_j3kn20i wrote

Prohibition wasn't voluntary though. I think there's gonna be a sobriety wave soon(like in 10 years or something), dry January is a thing, and people are starting to take breaks from drinking. Although it might be from more of a "I don't need the excess calories" rather than a "alcohol is bad for you", ibknow personally when I'm out of shape my desire to drink goes down massively, and if I do it ends up being something harder like rum or whiskey(of which I'll probably dump half of it anyway).

I dont necessarily think suger is the issue in and of itself, I think it's just absolutely everything about modern life subconsciously forces you to eat to healthily if you're not specifically looking out at all times

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calm_chowder t1_j3ko5fw wrote

>but if you're only gonna have 1 or 2 light beers how much of the socializing was because of the alcohol vs other factors(atmosphere, ritual of drinking,

If that's your normal amount of drinking then you don't have liver disease to worry about in the first place so.....

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come-on-now-please t1_j3kp2ry wrote

Not a doctor, but I think it's 1 standard drink for a guy and maybe half that for a women per day is the max that you can have and not have it affect your liver over time.

There are people who don't binge drink, but drink constantly, "only" having 1 or two beers a day means you're drinking 7-14 beers a week, probably of varying alcohol contents(and a standard drink is way smaller than people think).

Yah you're not gonna die from alcohol poisoning, but the point is that this stuff builds up and sure people have it sneak up on them and they don't realize it until it hits them

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lvlint67 t1_j3ktyd7 wrote

If you follow the science there's basically no account of alcohol that is good for you. They said, in the majority of cases, a healthy human body will deal with light-moderate drinking.

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lvlint67 t1_j3ku5qw wrote

> I wonder how much of a "Social Lubricant" alcohol is vs a placebo

Depends on the person. Some people already have lower inhibitions in social situations.

Stone people will sit in a corner, catatonic in a social situation without "lubricant"

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[deleted] t1_j3klcva wrote

[deleted]

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come-on-now-please t1_j3km29z wrote

I wouldn't say it makes you brave, but I'd say it makes you not care.

Apparently the way it makes people/groups more social is that as a depressant it slows you down and it stops you from picking up social ques. So a sober person might see a yellow light and not talk, a person who has drunk a little still sees a green light and goes right ahead

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thenewestnoise t1_j3kmtnl wrote

GHB? It's illegal but I don't really know how bad it is for you.

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funksoldier83 t1_j3mb2k5 wrote

Cannabis beverages exist. Can be psychologically addictive, sure… but it’s not going to destroy your internal organs nearly as badly as alcohol. And no hangover.

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HironTheDisscusser t1_j3mmt2g wrote

many drugs that work on the same receptors as alcohol (GABA mainly) already exist they're just illegal

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MaracujaBarracuda t1_j3k3a6h wrote

Kava. It can cause dependence and health problems but probably less than alcohol.

Edit: I am not promoting kava, I’ve never even tried it myself, I am coming from a harm reduction perspective

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dariadarling t1_j3k97rz wrote

Isnt kava linked to liver or kidney issues?

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another_bug t1_j3kwnzu wrote

As I understand it, the liver issues mostly came from unscrupulous extract sellers who were using the stems and leaves.

Basically, you drink the dried & powdered roots of the plant, but for a while there was a big boom on making pills with extracts. Demand exceeded supply and some people started using the parts of the plant not traditionally consumed. These parts have some other compounds in them that you don't want (similar to how tomato and potato leaves contain solanine), and now people were taking basically concentrates of them. This is where you get problems. The roots have hundreds of years of traditional consumption in Polynesia, the leaves, not so much. Supposedly they were traditionally used as an abortifacient, so probably not something you want to drink.

Among those who drink traditional varieties of kava in Polynesian cultures, I do not think the liver problems have been well documented. Which doesn't mean it doesn't cause problems, it could also be due to it being a relatively less studied topic.

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educateyourself1 t1_j3kdf5a wrote

I enjoyed Kava until I went to the doctor with hives. When he told me it was probably from the Kava I insisted it wasn’t until I was driving home and realized my denial. Stopped taking it and the hives went away.

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ricardo9505 t1_j3jm86z wrote

Or take responsibility and not drink. Some ppl are more prone to become alcoholics or abuse things. Recovery doesn't happen overnight or a week. It's a lifelong struggle for many. Avoid parties , bars, social events.

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Sneakysteve t1_j3k0i8b wrote

I mean thousands of years of human civilization we've been drinking alcohol and we haven't even remotely addressed this problem properly, but "don't drink"... damn, that must be the missing piece of advice that alcoholics needed all this time.

It can't possibly be more complicated

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Saltyspaghetti t1_j3k3coh wrote

Don’t forget to avoid social settings

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Sneakysteve t1_j3k4h7k wrote

Lol yes, thanks bro. Be sure to turn off all ads and media that feature alcohol as well. I think there's a lever for that somewhere.

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ricardo9505 t1_j3k8k0q wrote

Weak men make excuses like you do. Takes a strong man to overcome addiction and I'm sure aside from pop tarts you have no clue about the issue in reality.

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kafka_nova t1_j3lzmzw wrote

I am absolutely opposed to any form of alcohol consumption, but even more against backward toxic men who believe there can talk to other about strength or any nonsense about "you have failed as a man". you are responsible for the decline of humanity.

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CelikBas t1_j3khtt1 wrote

The real problem is that the majority of human societies have spent the past few millennia centering huge parts of their culture around drinking literal neurotoxins, to the point where it’s considered weird not to get at least mildly buzzed on a regular basis.

Fortunately, all we need to to is invent time travel and alter the course of civilization as we know it, and the problem will be solved!

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ricardo9505 t1_j3k8e8c wrote

See a therapist, get help. Alcohol is big business so there's that aspect. But failing to take personal responsibility for yourself first is a sign of weakness that hurts you. Say what you want but if you're an addict the world doesn't care much. You have to want the help. It ain't easy. Growing as a person never is.

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kafka_nova t1_j3lzphy wrote

I am absolutely opposed to any form of alcohol consumption, but even more against backward toxic men who believe to want to talk to other strength or any nonsense about "you have failed as a man". you are responsible for the decline of humanity.

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