Tag: alko
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The most effective alcohol policy of the twentieth century was not a tax, a ban, or a warning label. It was a beer category. In 1965, the Swedish parliament voted 205 to 117 to allow the sale of “middle beer”—mellanöl—in grocery stores. It was a beer between 3.5 and 4.5 per cent alcohol by volume,…
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Let’s be honest. Everyone who drinks alcohol, binges. The only question is how often. To begin drinking is to open the door to a binge somewhere down the line, because alcohol does not simply depress the nervous system—it engages the same reward circuitry that opioids do. Alcohol triggers the release of endogenous opioids, particularly β-endorphin,…
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How Substance Use Reprograms the Brain’s Reward System One Pathway, Many Drugs Every addictive substance converges on the same pathway. It runs from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens. It’s the brain’s reinforcement engine. It stamps cues and actions with motivational value. It says: that thing matters, go get it. Dopamine is not…