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I like how people on Star Trek just constantly throw down "synthahol" and real alcohol as if it's no big deal but there's still the occasional anti-drugs episode.
Alcohol companies have the best marketing
Just like the current world!
Before the replicator nonsense, though, we'd sneak on a bit of the good stuff. Synthahol is a slap in the face of all Scots!
I like how they've never explained (at least on the show itself) what synthahol does. Does it get you drunk or even tipsy? If not, why does everyone drink it?
But I think the idea is that synthahol can get you drunk but you can get sober right away with a hypospray or whatever if necessary.
And you're telling me there's also no synthacannabis or even synthameth?
On a Human wessel where the higher ups know damn well the crew is going to find ways to get the real shit on board, and they're shown doing it, synthahol must be universally inferior, despite the "benefits."
But it does something, or else they wouldn't drink it at all. So why not synthacannabis too? Not as good as the real stuff, but the synthahol equivalent.
I am also pretty sure I remember someone (maybe Wesley) being told they're too young to drink synthahol, so it has to be intoxicating on some level.
The silly realistic answer is network TV. The in universe answer? It's probably non-addictive and cheap. Synthacannabis, definitely falls under the network TV answer. In universe it probably exists, but is highly regulated.
I ended up looking it up on Memory Alpha and they imply that it's normally just a flavoring agent, but Seven and one alien both got drunk on it because they lacked the enzyme needed to break down the effects.
I mean I like a nice alcoholic drink, but if I have replicators that can make me pretty much any drink in the explored galaxy, why would I constantly choose one with the flavor of alcohol but that wouldn't get me drunk? You know, maybe there's that one crewman who just had to have their non-alcoholic beer at the end of a shift, but they're all slamming down synthehol (it's with an e, not an a, which doesn't work as well for me) drinks all the time.
I also love that they seem to have no problem at all with stimulants that are far stronger than caffeine. You'd think raktajino was cocaine the way they compared it to coffee.
Imagine being a Scotsman trapped in a pattern buffer for decades and decades in order to survive, only to be rescued and told a proper drink is literally impossible now.
And I don't think they were exactly loading up that tiny shuttlecraft with bottles of scotch. First place he headed to was the nearest galactic liquor store.
Okay, now I am even more confused. Because it seems that synthale is not the same thing...
One variety of synthale was called Voodai. It was Major Kira's favorite synthale. Quark gave her a bottle as a farewell present in early 2370, after she had previously remarked jokingly that her friends could help her "cry in her synthale". (DS9: "The Circle")
Quark remarked to Arjin, that Julian Bashir was sitting in his bar every other day, "crying in his synthale" about Jadzia Dax. Similarly, Arjin tried to forget his worries with a large bottle of synthale, pretending to "see his future" in a full glass of the drink. Dax commented that she wouldn't trust a bottle of synthale to tell the future. (DS9: "Playing God")
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Synthale
So I guess it does intoxicate you? And it's also not something you replicate?
And to make it even more confusing, there's a whole other kind of synthale:
That's crazy. Why couldn't they just make the pretend alcohol substitute consistent? We demand accuracy in our made up future drugs damn it! They couldn't even hold on to the colorful space food for crying out loud. You may have thought the writing in the 4th and 5th seasons of Discovery may have been what sent me over the edge, but no!
Synthehol, synthale, synthahol - Pick one, you fuckers! Is it intoxicating, or just a flavor agent‽ If the latter, why the fuck did Quark open a bar and not a casino? He would try to capitalize on the addictive properties of alcohol.
I'm just going to quote Tasha Yar here: Drugs make you feel good.
According to Data, synthehol's "intoxicating effects can be easily dismissed." (TNG: "Relics")
This is what I always took to be the important part, and why they use it on Starfleet ships, even though normal alcohol is obviously common and enjoyed on Earth. It's a safety concern. Rather than having all your crew rushing to take Sober-Up™ every time there's a red alert, they drink synthehol, because they can shake it off themselves
A lot of times, they only drink it while on duty. Other times they drink it all the time while on a ship... Somebody probably compiled it, but I don't think the authors had any unified theory of why people drink it.
But yeah, I remember many people saying it's only a flavoring agent.
I drink liquor because of the taste and mouthfeel. I usually stop at one dose because I don’t like getting tipsy or drunk. I’d absolutely love synthehol.
They've all programmed their replicator profiles to include "Ethanol, 22.5ml, Chilled" in all orders they place containing the word "synthehol"