What is the ingredient in alcohol that makes people drunk?

Lothruin

rcyay appears to be asking us questions of their health class drugs quiz. But in all seriousness, it is, in fact, the alcohol. Ethyl alcohol, (grain alcohol, the kind you drink,) is a general depressant, and acts as an inhibitor on certain receptors in the brain, making it difficult to control the body. This is once the alcohol makes it into the brain, through the bloodstream, after being filtered through the liver. Which is why you can drink yet not get drunk, if you drink at a slow enough rate for your liver to filter properly. Most alcohol doesn't have any other ingredients, as such, though it may have some residual liquids from the plants from which it was fermented. Apr 17 03, 12:41 AM

_princess_007

Alcohol is a generic term for ethanol. Ethanol produces intoxication because of its depressive effects on various areas of the brain. http://www.emedicinehealth.com/alcohol_intoxication/article_em.htm Nov 17 06, 4:36 AM