# How do hard core alcoholics manage to drink enough alcohol? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2014, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-hard-core-alcoholics-manage-to-drink-enough-alcohol/696187 "2014-08-22T10:32:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JayRx1981](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@JayRx1981](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayRx1981)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-hard-core-alcoholics-manage-to-drink-enough-alcohol/696187/21 "2014-08-23T14:23:31Z")
> [@straightdough](#): > > if you want to stop drinking, or have to, prescription medicines (especially long acting benzos like librium, and even better barbituates) can sort of substitute for alcohol due to similar action in the brain. While Librium (Chlordiazepoxide) is sometimes used in the detoxification step of alcohol use disorder treatment (Diazepam, aka Valium, is more common), the use of any potentially addictive medication to replace another addictive medication is generally viewed as a poor idea except as a last resort, particularly in the long run. Short run to prevent seizures, sure. As for barbiturates…I won’t say they are never used, but there is very good reason the benzodiazepines, even with their own set of risks, have largely replaced the barbiturates. The odds of you killing yourself with benzos alone is much smaller than the odds of you killing yourself (intentionally or otherwise) with a barbiturate like Phenobarbital. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-hard-core-alcoholics-manage-to-drink-enough-alcohol/696187/22 "2014-08-23T14:34:42Z")
The ability to hold one’s liquor is an essential factor in becoming a hard core alcoholic. I was acquainted with one man, a former athlete, one of the nicest people on the planet, who subsisted on nothing but beer and meds in the last few weeks of his life as he succumbed to cirrhosis. The brother of a friend washes down vicotins with a 1/2 gallon of rum daily. Someone else I know is well on his way to that sad state. He starts drinking at 6AM when he goes to work, cooking breakfast at a bar. You know you’re going to run into some industrial grade drinkers at a bar that opens for breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-hard-core-alcoholics-manage-to-drink-enough-alcohol/696187/23 "2014-08-23T22:23:30Z")
I also know someone who is a hardcore alcoholic; she will never stop drinking and honestly, in her early 60s, it’s a wonder she is still alive, let alone functioning. Anyhow, she drinks about a fifth of cheap vodka per day. Drink, pass out, drink, pass out, rinse amd repeat. I think she is all about maintaining equilibrium. She knows how much she needs to maintain. She will not buy more than that daily, because then she will get too hammered and yes she has wound up in thr ER with ethanol poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-hard-core-alcoholics-manage-to-drink-enough-alcohol/696187/24 "2014-08-23T22:36:48Z")
[QUOTE=] You know you’re going to run into some industrial grade drinkers at a bar that opens for breakfast. [/QUOTE] Or, just run into a bunch of 3rd-shift workers who are just relaxing after work. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-hard-core-alcoholics-manage-to-drink-enough-alcohol/696187/25 "2014-08-23T23:02:24Z")
Good thing I can’t stand vodka. ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-hard-core-alcoholics-manage-to-drink-enough-alcohol/696187/26 "2014-08-23T23:39:46Z")
Read Charles Bukowski’s stories and novels, he was pretty good at solving the problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-hard-core-alcoholics-manage-to-drink-enough-alcohol/696187.md?page=1)