Alcohol snorting craze sets off alarm signals

Binge drinking will only worsen if New Zealanders pick up on the latest overseas craze of snorting alcohol, says the Alcohol Advisory Council.

Drinks such as vodka and absinthe can be "snorted" into the nose or inhaled into the mouth through a tube attached to a device known as an Alcohol Without Liquid (AWOL) vaporiser. It costs about $4000.

Scientists say the effects of the alcohol can be felt much quicker as it is directly absorbed through blood vessels in the nose or lungs - bypassing the stomach and liver.

"This is a silly gimmick and potentially dangerous to the individual in the short term as well as the long term if the practice is persisted with, said ALAC chief executive Dr Mike MacAvoy. "People indulging in this practice are just setting out to get drunk. This sort of instant hit fits in with New Zealand's and Britain's dangerous culture of binge drinking."

English bar Il Bordello, in Bristol, offered its customers the device at $16 a hit last week and owner Liz Lewitt said it had proved a hit.

The inventor, Dominic Simler, claims this method of consuming alcohol reduces a hangover and is calorie-free.

Alcohol experts described the device as "diabolical" and warned inhaling alcohol could cause serious brain damage.

Professor Oliver James, head of clinical medical sciences at Newcastle University, said snorting alcohol allows it to enter the brain without being filtered by the liver.