Drinking is a gas (From Times Series)

Drinking is a gas

5:35pm Wednesday 25th February 2004 in

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To some he's flying the flag for hedonism, to others he's an irresponsible entrepreneur, cashing in on a market already saturated with booze.

Whichever way you cut it, Dominic Simler's new invention AWOL (Alcohol without Liquid) has certainly generated controversy.

It enables the inhalation of oxygen combined with alcohol vapour, which has the effect of getting people drunk quicker, but could also have long-term effects on health when taken through the nose rather than the mouth.

"We have done tons of sales," said the 30-year-old businessman, based in Lyndale, Cricklewood. "We have had investors who want to make AWOL a massive brand. I have really capitalised on the back of the publicity."

The machine is currently available in Bristol's Il Bordello bar, where punters can 'pass it around like a peace pipe' for £6 a shot. It is supposed to give users a feeling of intoxication mixed with 'a kind of euphoria', hoping to repeat the craze for oxygen bars in Asia and the USA, which are said to give you a feeling of well-being.

The alcohol vapour is created by pouring a spirit into a diffuser capsule connected to an oxygen pipe.

The oxygen bubbles are then passed through the capsule, absorbing the alcohol, before being inhaled through a tube.

However, trading standards in Bristol has begun an investigation into AWOL after scientists expressed the health dangers of inhaling alcohol as it is directly absorbed through blood vessels in the nose or lungs bypassing the stomach and liver.

Professor Oliver James, head of clinical sciences at Newcastle University, who said he thought the machine was likely to increase the direct alcohol damage to the brain, has agreed to test out the effects on students over a four-month period.

In the meantime, Mr Simler's company Earth Oxygen Group has issued this statement: "Until the results are available, AWOL would like to advise all customers that the application should only be used to inhale alcohol vapour orally and not via the nose."

Mr Simler added: "We can recommend limits but as with all alcohol, there are dangers if it is abused or misused."

But the price you pay for the high is not just in terms of your health. Machines cost just shy of £1,500.