The way to get the room to stop spinning when you are trying to go to sleep is to simply put one foot on the floor and sleep with one eye open.
It used to work for me.
20 and he can’t drink? Jesus that’s ridiculous. He’s responsible enough to give his life for his country, drive a car, get married, raise children, but he’s not allowed to have an alcoholic drink. A rant for another post.
For me alcohol tends to enhance my original emotional state and lower my inhibitions. If I was feeling down I feel worse, if I was feeling up I’ll become more chatty and outgoing and feel good. I tend to get to that loose stage where you feel good and relaxed and I stay that way for ages until my body suddenly decides enough is enough and tries to get rid of the poison in my stomach. I generally feel ill before I get to the stage of passing out so I’ve never had a blackout or loss of memory of a drunk night (sometimes I wish I had.)
How do you know you’re drunk? It’s when you find yourself lying on the floor trying to hang on to it so you don’t fall off.
Agreed. But I will add that all the friend need do, assuming he is in the United States (where the age is 21 in all fifty states), is head north. The age is 18 or 19 in Canada, depending on the province, but at 20, he’d be fine in any province. There, he could engage in a little, perfectly legal, research. He may wish to avoid driving back to the US immediately after completing his research–at least, he should probably wait a day or two before attempting to operate a car.
Then, tell him.
Suggest an experiment for your friend. I’d think that getting a bunch of friendly people (making sure there’s a good ratio of women:men), some nice chill music, a place where you won’t be obnoxious, and some vodka and lemonade (for the rookies) would tell you what you want to know pretty quick.
Just make sure your friend doesn’t drive.
What is a ‘good’ ratio of men to women?
Stay up for about 24 hours or so (or if you’re one of those people used to doing that, then 12 hours past whatever you consider to be a long day/night).
No sleep at all, get good and groggy before like 8-9pm.
Then gather yourselves, drink a bunch of sodas and sugary drinks, load up on more quick simple sugars like candy and such, and then chug some red bulls to keep you awake for the night, and then try to go out and have a good time trying to stay up and do your usual things for the rest of the Night.
The experience is surprisingly similar to being drunk.
Tipsy is a different matter and more pleasant and more akin to what others are describing here. However, if you want DRUNK. That’s the closest sensations of nausea, slowed reflexes, impaired judgment, and teetering on the brink of crashing/passing out that you’re gonna get while completely Sober.
Well there are 5 levels of drunkenness.
He’d be the first person I’ve ever heard of who let a little thing like that get in the way.
I’ll be the second. I had little interest in drinking so risking the legal problems was enough of a deterrent.
I’d be the third. I have literally zero interest in drinking, and from what I’ve seen of drunk people and heard of the effects the whole process simply seems vaguely annoying and odd. I’m 20, never had a drink, and don’t plan on ever drinking. That “loss of control” feeling I hear about scares me too.
Uh, then it’s not the fact that you’re under 21 that’s stopping you, it’s your not wanting to be drunk.
Disclaimer: I don’t think I’ve ever been truly DRUNK. I’ve never had the room-spinning thing happen, and I’ve only thrown up once (and that was because I was drinking peppermint schnapps on an empty stomach, which is NEVER a good idea).
Being tipsy is quite pleasant, though. My face feels kind of hot, and when I turn my head or move my eyes to look at something, the actual eyesight seems rather slow in following. It’s a bit like being dizzy.
And while I often think “man, how am I gonna drink this whole thing?” in the initial stages of drinking a mixed drink, after I’ve had a few I think “pshaw, that wasn’t so bad! In fact, I think I’d like another one!” Then I have another one and regret it immediately. I’m usually able to stop myself from drinking, which leads me to believe that I’ve never been truly drunk before.
Another side effect: I start having to pee literally every five minutes. I think it’s my body going “whoa, what’s all this shit? Whatever it is, get rid of it, now!”
That’s not entirely true. If I were 21 I MIGHT try it, once.
This is all I can remember feeling when I’ve been really drunk (only been really drunk once, tipsy a few times). Have to have my behavior described to me, seeing as I can’t remember it.
Interesting question, because I’d like to know too. I don’t feel hyped up or buzzed or whatever, actually quite the opposite, I just fall asleep.
I have no idea why people like alcohol so much.
Damn it, now I want to drink. I’m a happy drunk and enjoy it a lot but rarely do it.
If you drink enough, you can pass out, puke on yourself, wake up, look at the puke, then go right back to sleep. Oh and wake up in the morning still drunk. Then get kicked out of the campground, have a horrible headache and have an unquenchable thirst because of the dehydration.
Good times. 
If I want to get drunk it’s best if I’m standing up, have nothing to eat, and drink mainly spirits. Sitting down, drinking beer, and eating all contribute to making me feel bloated and sleepy before I get any buzz from the alcohol.
Easiest way to know what feeling drunk feels IMO is:
First imagine what it is like to be slightly tipsy. Next imagine how it feels to be totally shit-faced.
Being drunk is approximately halfway between these two.
Simples.
I’ll be the 3rd then. I didn’t drink pretty much due to the law and the effects of alcohol on a developing frontal lobe fromages 16-20. Biology for the Win there. 