CAUTION: In case of accidental ingestion, seek professional assistance, or contact a Poison Control Center immediately.
It’s on the label of my bottle of ShopRite Mouthwash.
Listerine offers a similar warning: If more than used for rinsing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center immediately.
Maybe this is to deter people from trying to get a cheap drunk on the alcohol in mouthwashes?
In my experience, it doesn’t deter anyone who is that desperate to get drunk.
I knew a guy who used to buy his Listerine by the case. So no, it doesn’t deter anybody who really wants a cheap drunk.
I think it’s more likely that the warning is there for parents in case kids swallow mouthwash. If the warning weren’t there, a parent might think it’s not a big deal if a kid swallows mouthwash- after all, this stuff is designed to go in your mouth.
Really? I’m sure I’ve seen liters of generic Vodka go for less than a jug of Listerine.
Or even in the price is within $1 or so why not splurge and get the real stuff?
Dammit! Well, there goes my patented recipe for ShopRite Mouthwash mojitos.
Hell, a buddy of mine works as an administrator at a hospital. They even have problems with people breaking into the hand gel at the entrance way for its alcohol.
A mickey of cheap vodka here (the square 375 mlL bottles or 200mL) will still cost about $8, while mouthwash is often less than $2. Also, it’s illegal to sell booze to someone who is already drunk. So alcohol vendors are supposed to (and around here often do) turn away some of the harsher drunks in the neighbourhood because they are usually displaying signs of intoxication.
I’m living in Ontario, and acolhol is sold only through the Beer Store or the LCBO and a LCBO licenced wine specialty shops. Desperate alcoholics (the ones who are messed up enough to buy mouthwash) are usually in a bad enough state that they are kicked out of the store. Many of the drug stores in my old neighborhood refuse to sell mouthwash to those individuals as well (the ones who are displaying signs of intoxication). But a determined drunk will almost always be able to find some 7-11 somewhere or other tiny convenience store that sells mouthwash.
I’ve called 911 more than once for a guy in the park near my old apartment who needed an ambulance after drinking a bottle of Listerine. That kind of alcohol ulcerates your insides like crazy. The second time I called 911 for the guy, he’d tried to drink rubbing alcohol. :eek:
One of the serial inebriates (that is a technical term) I used to take care of in the ER told me his big secret. The Harris-Teeter down the street had mis-labelled their generic mouthwash for dirt cheap (like $1 a bottle).
Last year they had an incident where a corrections inmate drank the institutional sized Purell in the treatment area. They were told he’ll be fine after the buzz wears off. I think they should have induced vomiting instead of allowing him hours of a buzz.
I think the waring on mouthwash is more for the fact that there is fluoride in it, and then because of the alcohol content.
Two words: Blue laws.
I used to know a guy who would drink a couple mouthfuls of Listerine to mask the smell of alcohol before going to work. He said the smell comes from your stomach, not just your mouth, so merely rinsing isn’t as effective.
I don’t know if he’s right or not but just the idea of it made me go :eek:
Because when you puke up a liter of vodka you don’t get that great minty aftertaste.
Dosn’t Purell and other hand sanitizers have Isopropyl in them? Isn’t that what makes them toxic? Blindness, organ damage, coma, death; that kind of stuff?
He could have choked on the vomit if they did that. Choking on vomit can kill you (I had an acquaintance die this way when I was in seventh grade- no alcohol involved, AFAanybody knew). It’s more likely that someone will inhale vomit if they are intoxicated. It’s not something you want to mess around with when someone isn’t in danger just to keep them from having a buzz.
It’s ethyl alcohol.
Is it a big deal, and has that warning always been there? I did that once, the first time I used mouthwash. My parents never had the stuff around, but somehow I got a hold of a trial sized bottle of Scope when I was 13 or 14. Because the stuff was “Mint flavored” (and being familiar with candy-like types of minty mouth fresheners like Certs), I assumed it was something that was used via normal ingestive means as well. BLEEEECCH.
I had this horrible soapy feeling in my gut (that’s really the best way to describe it). I went over to the toilet to vomit it out but after a few dry heaves, nothing came out. I sat there feeling nauseous for a little while, and drank a lot of water to chase it down.
I don’t remember if the label had the poison control info was on the bottle or if I even bothered to check. I do remember belatedly checking the label to find the words “DO NOT SWALLOW” or something to that effect.
I don’t know what kind of alcohol buzz is possible from Scope or Listerine, but it CANNOT be worth it.
Anyone else recall the Pixar Listerine prank in one of Penn & Teller’s books? Great read 
To expand on my last post, one (no longer drinking) alcoholic of my acquaintance has actually showed me the 7-11 in Virginia where he used to purchase his Sunday morning Lavoris. (No Listerine for him, he was a high-class alcoholic! )
Of course, he also showed me the bar where the regulars used to feed the rats. Which they’d given nicknames. ::shudder::
There’s a reason there’s a park in downtown St Petersburg nicknamed “Fresh Breath Park” – the homeless in the area steal mouthwash from the nearby CVS and Publix and suck it down for a buzz.
How about telling us, Valgard? 