Get Drunk, Vapor-Style

Add one to the list of chemicals you can inhale on weekends. AWOL, or Alcohol Without Liquid, has recently made its stateside debut as the latest party gadget. Bridging the once-lonely gap between the shot glass and the vaporizer, the AWOL machine allows its users to breathe in their hard liquor of choice rather than follow the (totally played) down-it-and-chase routine.

The machine, which resembles an asthma inhaler attached to a car battery through IV tubing, mixes pure oxygen with liquor. Mixing in oxygen means alcohol can skip the digestive tract, eliminating the need for the liver to process the drinks—and thus the chance of getting violently ill. AWOL’s users rave about hangover-free mornings, the carb-free intake of alcohol, and a stronger buzz, all for the price of $299 for the machine or $10 a shot at your local trendy bar.

Sound too good to be true? It kind of is. The inhalation process takes 20 minutes and looks mildly ridiculous. While AWOL does keep the liver from having to deal with most toxins, your body still has to deal with the effects of ethanol, other congeners, and dehydration. Also, the claim that using AWOL reduces the carbohydrate intake of a night out is suspect at best, since vodka doesn’t actually contain carbs in the first place.

AWOL may also have more dire effects on the body. For one thing, AWOL could lead to alcoholism; one of the common ways to induce alcoholism in rats is to force them to breathe in alcohol. Colorado has already created legislation to ban AWOL because it may lead to higher rates of drunk driving and heavy drinking—or heavy breathing, as the case may be.

Still, if you’re looking for love, AWOL may be your booze of choice. Buying a shot for your crush involves 20 minutes of side-by-side inhalation. Ah romance...