In contrast to drugs that have a complex molecular structure and a limited number of direct sites of action, the ethanol molecule is remarkably simple, and potential molecular targets are many and varied. This poses a special problem for understanding actions of ethanol. Effective concentrations of ethanol (and blood levels for legal intoxication) are measured in millimolar concentrations rather than nanomolar levels which are effective for other drugs of abuse. Neuronal synapses, and especially ligand-gated receptors rather than voltage-gated channels, were the major focus of alcohol research for many years [4,5]. However, even within the synapse, voltage-gated channels play a significant role, both in release on the presynaptic side and in reception on the postsynaptic side. Although they come in many different flavors, voltage-gated channels can roughly be divided on the basis of their main charge carrier (i.e. sodium, calcium, potassium and chloride). Many of these channels were found to be remarkably resistant to alcohol action, even at very high concentrations [6,7]. In contrast, the BK calcium- and voltage-activated potassium channel was found to be very responsive to alcohol, generally
