The things you learn: Alcohol suppositories

[pne]

Things I did not know: apparently, there are alcohol suppositories. Supposedly popular among youths, partially because that delivery method bypasses the stomach, so you don't vomit.

I knew that alcohol could be absorbed by mucous membranes (from a medicine you were supposed to leave in your mouth for a bit for part of it to be absorbed there), but I wouldn't have thought to try those mucous membranes.

(The background was: after lunch, a colleague put his hands into this disinfectant/hand sanitiser machine, and then the corridor started smelling of alcohol. Another colleague mentioned that he was “old school” and preferred to take his alcohol internally. This triggered a small discussion of ways to administer alcohol.)

Comments

[pseudomonas]

huh. How much alcohol can one get in a suppository while still having mechanical integrity? I'm picturing liqueur-centred chocolates (and wishing that I wasn't).

[pne]

Perhaps for larger volumes, it's more of an enema than a suppository?

[pseudomonas]

That sounds more likely, and you could use commercial alcohol.

[ridicully]

That delivery method also bypasses the first pass through the liver. So your brain gets a much higher concentration of alcohol.