Alcohol and Alcoholism (Part One)

Alcoholic beverages have been known since ancient times. As long as water, fruits with sugar content, and fermentation existed, all the conditions for the natural formation of alcoholic drinks were created. In contact with alcoholic beverages, humans experienced the effects of moderate and abusive consumption.

Determining the exact historical moment is not easy, but it is believed that alcoholic drinks existed on Earth much earlier than the emergence of the human species. It is estimated that the conditions were created at least 200 million years ago.

Water, plants with sugar or rich in starch, as well as fermentation, created the conditions for the formation of ethyl alcohol. Starch, in contact with sugars and starches, undergoes a chemical reaction as old as nature itself.

Some archaeological research has documented that the consumption of alcoholic beverages existed around 7,000 years BC. According to some authors, murals from the Paleolithic era suggest that individuals depicted may have been in a state of intoxication, induced by hallucinogenic plants or alcoholic beverages. It should be noted that in the case of alcoholic beverages, it has always been difficult to distinguish between regular consumption and abuse.

The geographical areas with vineyards and wine production were located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, areas that now belong to Turkey and Iran, while the first beverages similar to beer were produced in Mesopotamia. All this happened between 3,000 and 4,000 years BC.

In ancient Egypt, the cultivation of vineyards and wine production increased the widespread consumption of these drinks. Alcoholic beverages were used, among other things, to reward workers who were building the pyramids. Meanwhile, it has been noted that the consumption of wines and other fermented beverages was used instead of water, both in ancient times and in later centuries, justified by the fact that hygiene and water quality were often poor and sometimes sources of diseases.

Five hundred years before Christ, in Greece, the cultivation of vineyards and wine production spread widely, as did the negative effects of their use. This led Plato to prohibit the use of alcoholic beverages in the youth under the age of 18 and recommended moderate consumption up to the age of 40. After the age of 40, there were no restrictions on consumption. This last point is curious and perhaps justified by the fact that the average age of the population in those days was low, so when one reached 40, there was no longer a motive to impose restrictions on lifestyle.

In compensation, the rules imposed in establishments where wine was served were very strict, and penalties were given to those who appeared drunk in public. In the 4th century BC, a famous example when intoxication turned into a tragedy is when Alexander the Great killed his best friend, Clitus, in a drunken attack. Episodes of family violence provoked by alcoholism can also be mentioned.

On the other hand, Alexander the Great is a victim of the Goddess of Revenge, where according to a credible hypothesis, he died in Babylon due to alcoholic cirrhosis. It is important to emphasize that in the classical civilization, the consumption of alcoholic beverages played an important role in social customs, and drinks became the cause of conflicts, pleasures, and abuses.

According to mythology, among the gods on Mount Olympus, Dionysus was also the god who protected vineyards and wine. Festivities dedicated to him were included in "cultural events," such as theatrical performances. In fact, a night with drinks, intoxication, and euphoria could be followed by an outburst of unrestrained vomiting.

In the Old Testament, a moment caused by excessive drinking is described. Noah cultivated a vineyard, drank from the wine it produced, got drunk, and appeared naked in front of his children: one of the most typical effects of alcohol abuse, the loss of control.

In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, among the Romans, one of the most joyful festivals was the Bacchanalia, dedicated to BACCHUS, the God of wine (BACCANALI).

One of the miracles performed by Jesus consists of transforming water into wine at the wedding in Cana, and wine is part of the Eucharist, which, together with bread, represents the blood of Christ.

In contrast to this religious belief, the Islamic faith held a contrary position towards alcoholic beverages, as Muhammad formulated some verses in the Quran to prevent his believers from consuming alcoholic beverages.

From Romans in the Middle Ages to the Present Day

In the Roman era, scientists and philosophers dealt with viticulture, wine production, wine consumption, and writing texts up to the present day. Since the spread of Roman culture is that of Christian belief, the cultivation of vineyards and the consumption of wine also passed to new geographical areas.

In this period, as well as in other subsequent eras, the effects of alcoholic beverages varied from negative consequences manifested in abusive individuals to positive aspects, which consisted of their use in medicine as alcoholic drinks enriched with drugs and drugs recommended for many diseases. Precisely, from the emergence and production of drinks with curative effects, the technique of distillation was established, an attribute of the Arab alchemist named Jabir Ibn-Hayan.

In the Middle Ages, the distillation of alcoholic beverages became a tool of medical science. In these years, just as an Arab alchemist realized the distillation process, which was the basis for the production of liqueurs, another Arab, Mohammed, inaugurated the formulation of the first institutional prohibition of alcohol, which became a ritual of Arab medieval culture. In the Middle Ages, the first studies documenting the harms of alcohol in the human body were also published.

Always in the Middle Ages, but in a Christian environment, the birth of monarchy played a significant role in the production of alcoholic beverages. Some vineyards, among the best in the world, were produced from vineyards owned by the Church and in some cases from the areas of the Monarchy. In 1232, the Church of San Vivant in Vonse (France) bought 1.8 hectares of vineyards, which became the heart of the production of some of the most famous wines in the world, Romanee-Conti.

In the Avignon Papacy era, in the 14th century, vineyards were given a boost in the area, which later became the production area of "Chateauneuf du Pape". In England, at the beginning of the 16th century, until the reign of Henry VIII, monastic communities produced the best beers, and their sale became a good source of profit and a means of living.

Also, in these historical passages of the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages, contradictions are observed, which have accompanied and will accompany the consumption of alcohol, which are in conflict with economic and commercial interests against the preservation of health from the evils provoked by the excessive use of alcoholic beverages.

Regarding the contradictions, in these centuries, they moved on to punishments for the intoxicated, who were exposed in public, becoming the jesters of the world, "dressed" with a barrel of beer. On the other hand, in medical treatises, the wonders and properties of the "elixir of life" were described, which had the property of preventing diseases caused by the cold, being a "calmative" for the heart, curing headaches, curing baldness, etc. The "Elixir of life" is the drink that is now called Brandy and is produced by distilling wine.

In the mid-17th century, a new drink was born that had significance in the development of alcohol consumption, which was Gin. In fact, in the Netherlands, a drink called Genever was distilled, which was shortly called Gin, for the production of which juniper berries were used to mask the aroma of alcohol. According to some authors, Gin also had a use in medicine, just as its predecessor, a distillate based on juniper, prepared by Italian monks, had been used as a healing remedy for the Black Death, one of the epidemics of the plague disease that struck Europe in the late Middle Ages.

During several decades, the production of Gin in Great Britain reached high levels, and so did consumption, which became a true "epidemic". In 1742, the production of liqueurs in Great Britain, mainly Gin, reached 20 million gallons.

Actually, Gin is not the first liqueur distilled from grains, and it is likely that it was preceded by Whisky, which, unlike Gin, is thought to have been first produced in Ireland. To get an idea of how preferences for alcoholic beverages have changed over the centuries, it is enough to think that the "smoky" taste of Whisky, caused by the method of production itself, and which today is among the characteristics that attract consumers, including experts, for a long time had the greatest limitation on distribution and consumption outside the borders of Scotland.

In the 17th century, a group of colonists, originating from the Puritan sect, came to Massachusetts with 10,000 gallons of beer. From this time on, there was a spread of alcohol consumption in the New World. Even here, this was seen in two different perspectives, mainly oppositional: one that seemed to show the social and medical risks associated with alcohol consumption, and the other based on the distribution and consumption for profit. State authorities were inclined towards profits, imposing taxes on the production and distillation. It is curious to note that, just as it happened with beer, wine, and some other drinks in Europe, in the United States, the production of one of the most famous liqueurs, Kentucky Whiskey, came from a church figure, specifically from a Baptist pastor.

Always in the United States, at the end of the 18th century, a document was published openly reporting on the negative effects of alcoholic beverages on the body and mind, refuting any healing effect of alcohol. To be more reliable and to achieve a wider spread, this document contradicting the positive effects of alcoholic beverages stigmatizes the harms it causes. Meanwhile, we must reach the early 19th century when the symptom of intoxication was defined as a symptom of mental disorders, and just the desire for a sip of alcoholic beverages was considered as true intoxication. The descriptions of the consequences of alcohol withdrawal were also detailed, such as delirium tremens.

It is up to a Scottish doctor, Robert Mancnish, to describe seven "profiles" of the alcoholic: sanguine, melancholic, scorbutic, phlegmatic, anxious, choleric, and periodic.

In the mid-nineteenth century, for the first time, laws were enacted in the USA for the prohibition and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The first state to declare this law was MAINE, followed by other states. The outbreak of the war made this attempt to limit alcohol consumption fail, and beverage producers made sure that this attempt to restrict alcohol use failed.

It was necessary for the first decades of the 20th century to see the emergence of new laws that spoke of reducing or prohibiting the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Among the consequences of this law were the spread, on the one hand, of criminal phenomena related to the production, smuggling, and clandestine sale of beverages, and on the other hand, the "inventions" made by doctors and pharmacists who prescribed Whisky for medicinal purposes or produced "medicines" with high alcohol content.

Meanwhile, in Europe, taxes were imposed on the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages, and a tendency to ban them, especially in northern countries. For example, in Finland, in 1884, laws were published that restricted the sale of alcoholic beverages, which evolved several years later into an absolute ban on their consumption. In other European countries, the social effects of alcohol abuse were taken into account, which is concretized with the example of German data, according to which, in 1878, 5,348 women were arrested for committing crimes while under the influence of alcohol.