Short answers, pulled from the story.
Alcohol, chemically known as ethanol, is a central nervous system depressant that works by amplifying the effects of GABA, the brain's main inhibitory neurotransmitter, via the GABAA receptor. It also affects glutamate, glycine, acetylcholine, and serotonin systems. The pleasurable effects of intoxication come from dopamine and endogenous opioids released in the brain's reward pathways.
Humans have been drinking alcohol for at least thirteen thousand years. The earliest known beer was brewed by the Natufian culture in the Middle East. Winemaking in Georgia in the South Caucasus dates to between 6,000 and 5,800 BCE, and alcoholic beverages have been produced since the Neolithic period, as early as 7000 BC in China.
Death from alcohol consumption is possible when blood alcohol content reaches 0.4 percent. A level of 0.5 percent or above is commonly fatal. The highest blood alcohol level ever recorded in a person who survived was 1.41 percent.
Alcohol dependence is linked to a lifespan reduced by roughly twelve years. Long-term heavy use can cause liver disease, cirrhosis, heart disease, ischemic stroke, atrial fibrillation, several cancers (including liver, colorectal, and esophageal), dementia, peripheral neuropathy, and Korsakoff syndrome. In 2004, an estimated four percent of deaths worldwide were attributable to alcohol.
In April 2023, the World Health Organization published a statement in The Lancet Public Health concluding that no safe amount of alcohol consumption for cancers and health can be established. Some researchers have found that even one alcoholic drink per day increases an individual's health risk by 0.4 percent.
The Gin Craze was a period in the first half of the eighteenth century when gin consumption rose sharply in Great Britain, particularly London. By 1743, the average English person was drinking 2.2 gallons (ten litres) of gin per year. Parliament passed the Sale of Spirits Act 1750, commonly called the Gin Act 1751, to reduce consumption of gin and distilled spirits, which were widely blamed for rising crime.