I feel like if this would work, it would mean one could inhale vaporized alcohol efficiently enough to get drunk on the vapor alone. And if that were a thing people could do, one would certainly expect it to be familiar from some terrible frat culture shenanigans. ...On the other hand, should be simple enough to get a trial together.
As a bartender in the 90's there were popular cocktails that did this. High alcohol, large round glass, set alight, put your hand over to extinguish, push a straw through fingers and suck out the vapour. The effect was very quick and very strong, much more so than drinking spirits alone. It was also short lived. I'm sure these were a terrible idea, but still, people using alcohol vapour to get a hit.
You can vape alcohol. Not familiar with it but I know it's a thing. You'd usually heat it up to get a buzz, but alcohol has a high vapor pressure so im sure if you vape it long enough unheated you'd get some sort of effect
I don't see this idea working, but normally alcohol also has sugars in it. Even distilled alcohol has sugars. Inhaling sugar sounds like a great way to cause other problem. If this were to have any success the alcohol would have to be extremely pure.
also alcohol would also dry out the airways I bet.
As to why its not been tried recreationally before. Lower proof alcohol beverages don't vaporize as easily. So other methods would probably work better. Although there is stuff like everclear.
Any source on this? I'd be surprised if sugar would be in the distillate. It might lower the vapor pressure of alcohol itself but it shouldnt vaporize and recondensate
What do you thinks gives various distilled spirits there various flavours. Otherewise, you would just use the cheapest sugar to ferment. Also oils and tannins can get distilled too with the alcohol.
Its why distilling has what they call different cuts. That depend on temperature and where in the distillation you are in. A vodka would have very little while a brandy will include cuts that have traces of things for flavour.
This [0] does not suggest that anything but ethanol/water and potentially some other volatile compounds are in the distillate. I'm not familiar with brewing and flavoring distilled spirits, but quite familiar with distillation and doubt that even oil would be in the distillate.
[1] suggests that tannins are present in the distillate, but I have not found a tannin that is volatile and [2] names one that isn't in beer
Flavor seems to be added after distillation from what i can see (and is potentially influenced by the volatile impurities)
Bravo for serious science, especially when it could easily be mistaken for a Onion piece where the gag is that even if you don't kill the virus, you'll get drunk trying.
As already stated by the other commenters, the author had already submitted the paper to arXiv in mid of March.
So, I don't think that it falls in anyway under April's fool (and I don't think that in this serious situation any researcher should do a April's fool paper).
Back to its contents, the authors describe the potential destructive action of alcohol on SARS-CoV-2 and its possible application in the respiratory tract, thus, nose, nasal cavity and further.
He bases his ansatz on a theoretical approach on diffusing the alcohol from a alcoholic vapor in to the respiratory system.
However, as theoretical it may sound, I think it could prove usable, if it is done in a controlled way and may deliver a simple approach to help infected people and saving those.
The usual approach is to use salt, not alcohol. The virus does indeed not like alcohol based sanitizers, but then all respiratory virus illnesses would be treatable with that, and the common treatment is with saltwater. I just got a small tinnitus, which looks like a cold, and for sure I'll be treating it with salt, not whiskey
It's not 4/1 where I'm sitting, and this paper looks somewhat legit on first skim.
Anyway, here's a story: My college roommate was a force of nature. So one weekend night I'm feeling a big cold coming on and I want to stay in and rest.
He was having none of that, so he goes to the kitchen and gets a spoon and a bottle of vodka and proceeds to snort a spoonful up both nostrils. It was horrifying. Then he gives the spoon to me.
I don't know how exactly, but he convinced me to do the same. It wasn't pleasant, but within a few hours and along with a few gin and tonics, there was no runny nose, no sore throat or headache.
I've done this several times over the years and when it works, it works well. Am I recommending this? Hell no, don't do it!
> He was having none of that, so he goes to the kitchen and gets a spoon and a bottle of vodka and proceeds to snort a spoonful up both nostrils. It was horrifying. Then he gives the spoon to me. I don't know how exactly, but he convinced me to do the same.
Cool story, thanks for sharing.
> Am I recommending this? Hell no, don't do it!
Alcohol fumes are also useful for treating tuberculosis and pneumonia. I don't recommend the spoon method, it's much gentler to use an evaporation chamber.
I wonder if this will get to Mitch McConnell, he'd be promoting the hell out of it (Three of his top five individual donors have ties to the Kentucky-based maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey).
JD is distilled in TN, but there are other fine KY bourbons that will do just fine. And Cocaine Mitch better promote his states distilleries along with all the other fine business located down there in KY.
I feel like if this would work, it would mean one could inhale vaporized alcohol efficiently enough to get drunk on the vapor alone. And if that were a thing people could do, one would certainly expect it to be familiar from some terrible frat culture shenanigans. ...On the other hand, should be simple enough to get a trial together.