Genetic studies of complex phenotypes, such as sensitivity to alcohol, often have advantages when they are conducted in well-defined populations such as Native American tribes living on reservations [55]. A once popular notion, called the firewater myth, proposed that Native American Indians are constitutionally predisposed to an altered response to drinking alcohol [56]. In one empirical study, Native American Indians, like Caucasian sons of alcoholics, were found to have less intense objective and subjective effects of alcohol in an alcohol challenge paradigm. Additionally, participants with at least 50% Native American heritage reported less intense effects of alcohol than did those with less than 50% Native American heritage, despite equivalent blood alcohol concentrations [57-59].
