A non-alcoholic drink that intoxicates but does not hurt

Nutt's ambitious plan is to offer the mbades a substitute for the safe synthetic alcohol called Alcarelle. Nutt has long been developing a product called "alcosynth", which will bring the relaxing and socially lubricating qualities of alcohol, but without the hangover, health problems and the risk of paralysis.

"Most of my professional life, I've dealt with people for whom alcohol is a problem, and a lot of my professional research is related to that," said Nutt, who was fired some time ago. a decade in his position as a substance abuse counselor. government after questioning the skewed moral standards of drug and alcohol use (let us note in a memorable way that riding was more dangerous than taking ecstasy).

This drink mimics the positive effects of drinking a few drinks without causing any side effects.

Shortly after, he presented in The Lancet data showing that alcohol is more harmful to society than heroin or crack. However, Nutt is not a prohibitionist. Enjoy a "very small" beer before you go to bed and even a co-owner of a bar whose irony makes it burst into one of their frequent and endearing laughter. "My daughter and I own a wine bar in Ealing," he said after being pulled back: "I'm not against alcohol." I like that, but that would be good to have an alternative. "One day, he hopes to add Alcarelle to the menu of his bar.

"We know in which part of the brain alcohol has its" good "effects and" bad "effects, and which receptors mediate them (Gaba, glutamate and others, such as serotonin and dopamine). Alcohol effects are complicated, but you can indicate which parts of the brain you want to attack, "he explains. Nutt, in collaboration with a business advisor and a former technology entrepreneur, and his team developed a five-year plan.

The test worked in rats

The long way to Alcarelle began in 1983, when Nutt was a PhD student and had discovered an antidote to alcohol. A drug that really reverses drunkenness. I have studied the effects of alcohol on the Gaba system. In short, the main effect of alcohol on the brain is to stimulate the Gaba receptor. When they are stimulated, these receptors calm the brain by activating fewer neurons. His study was the first proof. Nutt gave rats alcohol, a chemical that blocks Gaba receptors and rats became sober.