Sixty-nine healthy subjects between the ages of 21 and 30 years were recruited to participate by newspaper advertisements and posted flyers in the Baltimore area. Subjects who appeared to qualify for research participation based on a telephone screen were invited for an in-person interview. All participants provided written informed consent approved by the Johns Hopkins Medicine Institutional Review Board. Subject assessment included a medical history and physical exam, complete blood count, comprehensive metabolic panel (including renal and hepatic function tests), electrocardiogram, urinalysis, alcohol breathalyzer test and urine toxicology screen. The Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) (Bucholz et al., 1994) was administered by a master’s degree-level interviewer to identify DSM-IV axis I psychiatric diagnoses, including past or current diagnoses of alcohol and drug abuse or dependence. Minimum and maximum alcohol consumption patterns were established for this study, quantified using the 90-day Time Line Follow Back (TLFB) (Sobell et al., 1988). To minimize adverse reactions to the alcohol administration, participants had to report at least two drinking episodes in any 30-day period during the 90 day TLFB and at
