Anyway just a couple of minutes of googling by myself and this thing looks like utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter bullshit.
I’ve been quite enjoying the outrage in the couple of minutes I googled from, erm, “knee jerk thinkers” but given the vagueness in all the articles I’ve seen, the general silliness behind the claims and a few other factors - has this bugger just managed to attract a shed load of attention from lazy journalists to promote his nonsense pill - or is this so-called “banned in America” thing anything anyone here has ever heard of?
I’m basically looking for confirmation that I’m right here tbh. I hold out almost no hope of this thing working.
I think the problem might be that, whilst it doesn’t do what he claims it does, it does encourage people to drink and drive thinking that they will pass a breath test if stopped, where they may not have risked drinking and driving before. So, they may well still fail a breath test (because the pills are bullshit), but that is of no comfort to anyone the driver injures.
The Daily Mail article skips the most telling comment from Mr Kibble (found here)
So his pills don’t impact alcohol absorption from the gut, and suppress alcohol in the lungs, and don’t influence impairment.
Mr Kibble is profiting from drink-driving and enabling the commission of a crime. His product should be banned. Fortunately police can use other methods to determine impairment, and should do so if they suspect this sort of masking.
Yep, and that against his quote in the mail article: “'The pills work by preventing the absorption of alcohol from the inner lining of the stomach”.
So we have:
[ul]
[li]Can’t get his story straight[/li][li]No scientific background[/li][li]His is the only outfit manufacturing this amazing chemical[/li][li]No independent verification[/li][/ul]
I would bet all my penis pills that this is nonsense.
If it actually kept alcohol into the bloodstream then it would actually keep you from getting drunk not just allow you to beat the test. There is already something that does the same thing. It’s called don’t drink as much. I would really like to hear what is in the pill that does that.
None of the outraged tabloids bothered to actually do a test? It’s not that hard to buy a breathalyzer and test the thing. Printing an article pointing it it doesnt work might have been slightly more effective than giving him free advertising.
So it just means its like youre drinking somewhat non-alcoholic beer. No good feeling.
Plus, for it to work, you have to take it before you start drinking. Once youre drunk, once youre over the legal limit, it`s too late.
I`m curious, too, what an elevated level of alcohol does to the lower intestinal flora that normally would not get heavily dosed with alcohol. Will it kill them off, leaving you with interesting gut and gas pains next meal…
Assuming it works as advertised, which may or may not be true.
But if it’s something that makes you less drunk there should be no outrage. Less drunk = less impaired. Still drunk but lets you beat the test, outrage. Total bullshit doesn’t work, outrage. Works as advertised, don’t know why you would need it but noreason for outrage.
Ah, but outraged indignation sells more newspapers. (“We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodical fits of morality.” - Macaulay). If they tested the pill and found it didn’t work, which it wouldn’t, of course, they wouldn’t be able to puff themselves up to such a fury. The consequence? Less papers sold.
Such cynicism could make one weep were one not so inured to the hypocrisy and charlatanism of the British tabloids.
The problem is that even the seller is not clear on this point :- at one point he says that it blocks absorption of alcohol in the gut (the logical consequence of which is that the user will not actually get drunk and is wasting money spending it in the pub), then he says that in fact the pills do not influence impairment, and the driver is drunk but will not fail a breathalyser test.
I think a test with a bottle of scotch, some alcopal, a breathalyser and a copy of PGR4 is in order…
I don’t know if it would make a difference, actually. People believe stupid canards already, like coffee will sober you up, or putting copper pennies in your mouth will artificially lower the breathalyzer settings.
It’s hard to interpret the Mirror, doubly so because it’s full of BS, but it makes it sound like it lowers BAC by about 0.08. I’m not sure what they mean by 5 pints (English pints, or 100 oz of alcohol - over 3/4 a gallon or 3 liters) still keeping you under the limit. That much beer adds a bit more than 0.08, don’t know if it’s just saying it gets you under 0.08 but not 0.00. In many places in the US, they can still charge you if under the limit but you drive like an idiot.
Also, “banned in the US” certainly adds some “proof” about its effectiveness, but I doubt that has happened or any US authorities have even heard of this. Or one of the ingredients is banned for a completely different reason (mmm, carcinogeneriffic).
I try to imagine any mechanism where you could have high levels of alcohol in your blood but not exude it during breathing. The pill would have to do some fancy chemistry with your lungs, which is not a good idea if you like your oxygen. Your lungs absorb oxygen and exude CO2 and whatever else (like alcohol, ketones?) is volatile and in the bloodstream.
If alcopal blocks absorption in the gut as Mr Kibble claims, then drinking 5 pints of beer will only give you the BAC of 1 pint, and you will only be 1 pint worth of drunk - legitimately under the limit. This would be fine, legally and morally. It would be expensive full flavour low-alcohol beer, though, and you would be eventually shitting alcohol (if it is not absorbed in the intestine, it has to exit via the rectum).
But Mr Kibble also claims that the pills do not influence impairment. So 5 pints of beer gets you 5 pints drunk, with the BAC of only 1 pint. So the alcohol has to be absorbed, but is hitting only the brain but not the lungs (or liver and kidneys). Unless the drug is changing your cadiovascular system in really odd ways, both statements cannot be true.
My guess is this … Simethicone is an antifoaming agent in the gut, but is not actually absorbed into the body (at all). It is safe, neutral and benign (it is sold over the counter in a number of flatus management products). It may slow down absorption rates somewhat, but this at best, delays the inevitable. It may also reduce alcoholic irritation of the gut. Mr Kibble, on the other hand, does not understand the pharmokinetics of alcohol. So his testing of alcopal and beer may have been carried out too quickly for his tests to have any form of validity - i.e he may have blown under 0.08 after a quick 5 pints, but wait half an hour or more and he might have been well over as would be expected.
And it wouldn’t have to lower BAC, it could even raise it to a ridiculous level like 0.6%, casting doubt on their device. Of course, in that situation, the officers would sit you down for 30 minutes and try again.