Question: Do you become addicted faster to gin than to beer?
Martha

Answer: The addictive effect of all alcoholic beverages is caused by alcohol, and is equally strong per standard unit of beer, wine or spirits. If you drink as many standard glasses of beer too many as you drink too many glasses of gin too many, then the addictive effect will be just as strong. However, there is a difference in the development of the effect of drink between beer and gin, ascribed to the concentration of alcohol. Gin delivers a sudden large quantity of alcohol into the bloodstream, which has a shock effect, compared with the more diffuse effect of beer-drinking. In some persons this may lead more easily to dependence on a particular type of alcoholic beverage.
Environmental factors and cultural differences may well increase or decrease the danger of addiction. When, for example, the supply and accessibility of a particular type of beverage is easier, more or less addiction will ensue. The greatest risk in Russia is excessive consumption of vodka, while in France it is wine and, in Germany, beer.

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