ABSTRACT
Ethyl alcohol is the most commonly used drug in the world and has such numerous points of contact with medico-legal pathology that it has to be considered separately from all other substances. Its abuse is a prime factor in many accidents – transport, domestic and industrial – and the majority of homicides are catalysed by alcohol intake. It acts as an adjuvant to many other toxic substances, combining to cause a fatal outcome where often the other drug alone would not have caused death. The chronic abuse of alcohol leads not only to definite pathological changes in a number of target organs, but also contributes to deaths from neglect, hypothermia and burns.
