Long ago I attended a lecture by a researcher who studied exactly this phenomena. As I recall it, they found that context is very important. If you are in a setting you associate with drinking and you drink something that replicates important elements of the experience, the chances of you subjectively feeling intoxicated increase substantially. People would be shocked to find out that they had been drinking cocktails that only had alcohol on the rim or non-alcoholic beer at the end of the experiment because they had felt it so strongly. Almost everyone they tested with replication of a real drinking experience maximized felt like they had drank alcohol to some extent and you could see their behavior change in very obvious ways as if they had consumed alcohol. The less they replicated the experience the less people felt it, so a nonalcoholic cocktail with alcohol around the rim you smell as you drink was more impactful than the same drink without the smell of alcohol on the rim, and whether the experiment was done in a bar like environment or a lab like environment made a significant difference.
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Yeap, that's how the placebo effect works. Your brain is really good at making things happen based on expectations. Granted, they could just be an asshole and thought alcohol/drugs would give them an excuse, but my understanding is that yeah, that's the placebo effect at work.
Could they "drunk drive" if they got in their car afterwards? Could thry be charged for being impaired while not actually under the influence of anything?
It would just be reckless driving/endangerment at that point
Can they give identical penalties for it such that they were punished in the exact same way. Its an interesting notion
Some states lump it all into 'driving while impaired' which can also cover stuff like falling asleep while driving, so I'd assume it'd apply in your hypothetical.
Iโm not a lawyer but I have been through the criminal system a couple of times.
They might face SOME of the same consequences if they damaged property or hit someone but they wouldnโt get a DUI.
Which is way worse
Like all legal questions, depends on the location but to answer the question generally, yes they could be charged with DUI if they fail a field sobriety test. Which doesn't always include / require a test for BAC specifically.
But if they drug tested them and there was literally no trace of substances nor alcohol and yet they're driving while "smashed". Law is very interesting, reminds me of the auto-brewer guy
It can be either.
It is possible to experience inebriation without intoxication via placebo effect. I've used that a few times to help people get to sleep or reduce pain perception, and fairly universally they'll also say they feel high.
But, people will also fake it out of perceived social onus. If everyone is acting drunk, a good proportion of people will do so even if drinking water and knowing they aren't drunk. When they think they're supposed to be, and don't feel it, the urge to behave as part of the group can kick in, and they'll act like what they think they're supposed to.
Myself, I would do that back as a teenager. Had no desire to get drunk, but didn't want to bring a party down. So I'd carry the same drink all night, sipping on it and act tipsy enough that everyone was happy.
That changed after I got drunk the first of two and a half or three times. After that I'd just smile and say I was good instead of faking anything.
So it's difficult to tell the difference from the outside. A lot of the perception of being drunk/high depends on familiarity with what the person thinks they're consuming. Someone that drinks plenty is likely to experience something closer to actually being drunk than someone with no experience. So to the outside observer, an inexperienced person and someone faking might well be indistinguishable
Interesting note on this point.
The kinds of behaviours we see when people are intoxicated is very cultural dependent.
The loud drunk, for example, is not something you see in every culture!
And of course, settings within a culture vary and essentially form subcultures in themselves
Yeah, that can 100% happen. You can even get people drunk through hypnosis. They know there's no alcohol involved but they'll still feel it. I've done it as a party trick plenty of times.