alcohol news stories on Newser

If It's Got Red Wax, It Must Be Maker's Mark

Kate Schwartz — Sun, 13 May 2012 09:38:14 CDT

This week, in unusual court rulings: Any liquor bottle topped with dripping red wax must be Maker's Mark, per the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals. It ruled on Wednesday that the Kentucky-made bourbon is the only brand permitted to carry the distinctive seal. The AP reports that Diageo North...

How a 1909 Law Is Holding Back the Post Office

Matt Cantor — Sat, 05 May 2012 09:42:08 CDT

The Senate has an idea to help save the Postal Service: Let people mail alcohol. After all, FedEx and UPS carry the stuff all the time. But a law from 1909—established 10 years before Prohibition came into effect—bars the Postal Service from shipping "all spirituous, vinous, malted, fermented,...

Hand Sanitizer: A Different Kind of Buzz?

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:34:05 CDT

Some teens are, apparently, now getting drunk on hand sanitizer —would such a binge feel any different than the type of intoxication brought about by more traditional forms of alcohol? Not necessarily, writes Will Oremus in Slate's Explainer column , because "ethyl alcohol is ethyl alcohol" no matter what it's fermented...

Teens' New Cheap Buzz: Hand Sanitizer

Evann Gastaldo — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 08:52:05 CDT

Apparently hand sanitizer is the new cough syrup, with teens increasingly chugging the stuff in an effort to get drunk. In California's San Fernando Valley in recent months, six teenagers have come to the ER with alcohol poisoning after drinking hand sanitizer—some of them separated the alcohol from the...

In Time for 4/20: Hemp Vodka

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:32:05 CDT

Don't bogart that bottle, my friend. In the counterculture world, "420" is the code for cannabis consumption, and April 20—or 4/20—is the holy day. On this April 20, the Alaska Distillery is introducing its hemp seed vodka. This is the same company that two years ago brought you...

Wait, Beer Boosts Your Brain?

Kevin Spak — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:05:18 CDT

You know how you get when you've got a couple pints in you: You stumble a bit, talk too loudly, and completely rock at brainteasers. A new study suggests that downing a little beer actually improves some cognitive functions. Researchers at the University of Illinois in Chicago got a group...

200 US Counties Still Prohibit Booze

Dustin Lushing — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 08:54:58 CDT

Prohibition came off the books in 1933, and the liquor flowed again. But a swath of the US, concentrated mainly in the South, remains booze-free to this day by law. More than 200 dry counties exist in the country, along with plenty more that are partially dry. Now the bleak...

British Plan: No More Super-Cheap Booze

Matt Cantor — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:22:05 CDT

Britain's heaviest drinkers could soon find themselves paying an extra $200 a year for booze. Despite resistance from his health secretary—and despite his own limited-government philosophy—David Cameron is today announcing a plan to set a minimum price of 40p, or about 63 cents, per unit of alcohol, the...

No Sex? Male Fruit Flies Turn to Booze

John Johnson — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:33:50 CDT

Entomology as country song: Researchers say male fruit flies denied sex drown their sorrows in alcohol, reports the BBC . Or more precisely, boy flies who get some action turn up their noses at food dosed with alcohol, while boys who get rejected are far more likely to indulge. Researchers think...